NROL-52 – Atlas V 421 (AV-075) – Канаверал SLC-41 – 15.10.2017 07:28 UTC

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Spaceflight Now‏ @SpaceflightNow 2 ч. назад

Launch Readiness Review completed for Thursday's Atlas 5 liftoff at 4:07amEDT to deploy #NROL52 https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/10/02/av075_journal/ ...

10/02/2017 18:31 LRR passed for NROL-52

The Launch Readiness Review has been completed for Thursday's Atlas 5 liftoff at 4:07 a.m. EDT to deploy of the NROL-52 payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.

Rollout of the 194-foot-tall eocket to the Complex 41 pad is scheduled for Tuesday morning.

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Air Force weather forecasters expect some cloudiness and gusty winds during the countdown, putting the odds of acceptable liftoff conditions to 60 percent.

"A broad area of low pressure in the Caribbean Sea persists through the forecast period. This area has potential for additional tropical development late in the week. Locally, the broad surface trough that caused widespread rain over the coast yesterday is pushing south of the spaceport. The pressure gradient has tightened with breezy east winds today and persisting through launch with coastal showers coming in off the Atlantic," meteorologists say.

"On launch day, the surface trough begins lifting north with moisture trending up. East-northeast winds remain breezy gusting in the upper 20s to 30 knots (230 ft) along with coastal showers."

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LRR
http://www.ulalaunch.com/atlas-v-to-launch-nrol52.aspx

Atlas V to Launch NROL-52

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• Rocket: Atlas V 421
• Mission: NROL-52
• Launch Date: Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017
• Launch Period: 4:07 a.m. EDT
• Live Broadcast: Begins at 3:47 a.m. EDT
• Launch Location: Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
  

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Spaceflight Now‏ @SpaceflightNow 48 мин. назад

PHOTO GALLERY of #NROL52 payload being mounted atop Atlas 5 booster for Oct. 5 launch from the Cape https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/10/02/photos-nrol-52-payload-mounted-atop-atlas-5-booster-for-oct-5-launch-from-the-cape/ ...
(ULA pic)

https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/10/02/photos-nrol-52-payload-mounted-atop-atlas-5-booster-for-oct-5-launch-from-the-cape/

Photos: NROL-52 payload mounted atop Atlas 5 booster for Oct. 5 launch from the Cape
October 2, 2017 Justin Ray

This photo gallery shows the classified National Reconnaissance Office payload, already encapsulated in the 14-foot-diameter nose cone, being lifted atop the United Launch Alliance Atlas-Centaur rocket at Cape Canaveral's Vertical Integration Facility. This milestone was achieved on Sept. 26.

Launch of NROL-52 is planned for Thursday, Oct. 5, at 4:07 a.m. EDT.

Photo credit: United Launch Alliance

See earlier NROL-52 coverage.

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Atlas V NROL-52 Mission Profile

United Launch Alliance

Опубликовано: 2 окт. 2017 г.

An Atlas V 421 rocket will launch the NROL-52 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office.

(1:40)

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Spaceflight Now‏ @SpaceflightNow 14 мин. назад

PREVIEW: Early bird rocket launch from Florida spaceport Thursday at 4:07amEDT will use Atlas 5 to loft #NROL52 https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/10/02/atlas-5-to-execute-another-space-lift-mission-for-u-s-spy-satellite-agency/ ...

https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/10/02/atlas-5-to-execute-another-space-lift-mission-for-u-s-spy-satellite-agency/

Atlas 5 to execute another space-lift mission for U.S. spy satellite agency
October 2, 2017 Justin Ray


An Atlas 5-421, pictured here, will be used to launch NROL-52. Credit: United Launch Alliance

CAPE CANAVERAL — An early bird rocket launch from the Florida spaceport will take to the skies before dawn Thursday when an Atlas 5 lofts a classified U.S. government satellite.

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United Launch Alliance will send up the clandestine NROL-52 payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, the agency responsible for the country's fleet of spy satellites.

The Launch readiness Review was passed Monday. Rollout of the rocket to the Complex 41 pad occurs Tuesday.

Thursday's liftoff is scheduled for 4:07 a.m. EDT (0807 GMT), and weather forecasters give a 60 percent chance of acceptable launch conditions.

Standing 194 feet tall and weighing nearly a million pounds once fully fueled, the Atlas 5 rocket, designated AV-075, will produce nearly 1.6 million pounds of thrust at liftoff from its main engine and two side-mounted solid-fuel boosters.

The trajectory will take the rocket eastward, likely toward a geosynchronous transfer orbit.

A similar Atlas 5 variant launched the NROL-61 mission along the same flight path last summer.

Both missions were assigned to ULA as part of the 36-core Block Buy from the U.S. Air Force.

Then-Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James testified to the U.S. Senate, in questions about the Block Buy, that the pair of missions were "already on fixed-price contracts that include provisions for an Atlas 5 launch vehicle provided as government furnished equipment."

And the satellites' mass to orbit, she said, exceeded the capabilities of SpaceX's Falcon 9 lift capabilities at the time of award.


The NROL-52 mision logo. Credit: NRO

Those factors made the missions unsuitable for competition and left ULA as the only U.S. firm that could launch the payloads.

Created in 1961 and operated in total secrecy as a black organization until its existence was declassified in 1992, the NRO is the joint Department of Defense–Intelligence Community organization responsible for developing, launching and operating America's national security spy satellites.

"The NRO is a small, flat, end-to-end organization fully capable of successfully delivering an increasingly capable, integrated resilient and affordable architecture. We have control of every function required, from the R&D that enables us to stay ahead of targets and threats, to the acquisitions required to deliver new capabilities to respond to changing mission imperatives in the field," NRO Director Betty Sapp said in testimony to Congress this year.

The NRO is the nation's eyes and ears in space, supporting policy makers, the Armed Services, the Intelligence Community, Departments of State, Justice and Treasury, and civil agencies.

"We contribute to global intelligence, military and homeland security operations, while simultaneously assisting with the formation of national policy and achieving diplomatic goals. We provide direct support to U.S. warfighters, help protect U.S. borders and contribute significantly to the fight against ISIS and other counter-terrorism operations. NRO capabilities contribute to the U.S.'s ability to improve battlespace awareness, deter aggression and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, combat terrorism, identify and track High-Value Targets and conduct security operations worldwide," Sapp testified.

"The NRO is advancing the sensor sensitivity of overhead SIGINT and GEOINT capabilities to collect against power signals and fleeting targets. We are improving the area persistence of our space-based systems to provide greater "time on target" to observe and characterize activities and the potential relationship between activities. We are working to reduce "sensor to shooter" timelines to get the right information to those who need it, when they need it. We're also developing smaller, less expensive satellites that can be launched in larger quantities to enhance our current architecture performance against high value and fleeting targets."


The NROL-52 launch poster. Credit: United Launch Alliance

This launch comes less than two weeks after another Atlas 5 successfully deployed the NROL-42 surveillance satellite into a highly elliptical, highly inclined Molniya-style orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

It was the 25th NRO launch successfully carried out by United Launch Alliance.

Код Выделить Развернуть

** ULA LAUNCHES FOR NRO **

Delta 322: NROL-21 on D2-7920 (Dec. 14, 2006) Vandenberg
AV-009: NROL-30 using Atlas 5-401 (June 15, 2007) Cape
AV-015: NROL-24 using Atlas 5-401 (Dec. 10, 2007) Cape
AV-006: NROL-28 using Atlas 5-411 (March 13, 2008 ) Vandenberg
Delta 337: NROL-26 on D4-Heavy (Jan. 17, 2009) Cape

AV-025: NROL-41 using Atlas 5-501 (Sept. 20, 2010) Vandenberg
Delta 351: NROL-32 on D4-Heavy (Nov. 21, 2010) Cape
Delta 352: NROL-49 on D4-Heavy (Jan. 20, 2011) Vandenberg
Delta 353: NROL-27 on D4-Medium+ (March 11, 2011) Cape
AV-027: NROL-34 using Atlas 5-411 (April 14, 2011) Vandenberg

Delta 359: NROL-25 on D4-Medium+ (April 3, 2012) Vandenberg
AV-023: NROL-38 using Atlas 5-401 (June 20, 2012) Cape
Delta 360: NROL-15 on D4-Heavy (June 29, 2012) Cape
AV-033: NROL-36 using Atlas 5-401 (Sept. 13, 2012) Vandenberg
Delta 364: NROL-65 on D4-Heavy (Aug. 28, 2013) Vandenberg

AV-042: NROL-39 using Atlas 5-501 (Dec. 5, 2013) Vandenberg
AV-045: NROL-67 using Atlas 5-541 (April 10, 2014) Cape
AV-046: NROL-33 using Atlas 5-401 (May 22, 2014) Cape
AV-051: NROL-35 using Atlas 5-541 (Dec. 13, 2014) Vandenberg
AV-058: NROL-55 using Atlas 5-401 (Oct. 8, 2015) Vandenberg

Delta 373: NROL-45 on D4-Medium+ (Feb. 10, 2016) Vandenberg
Delta 374: NROL-37 on D4-Heavy (June 11, 2016) Cape
AV-065: NROL-61 using Atlas 5-421 (July 28, 2016) Cape
AV-068: NROL-79 using Atlas 5-401 (March 1, 2017) Vandenberg
AV-072: NROL-42 using Atlas 5-541 (Sept. 23, 2017) Vandenberg
ULA is scheduled to perform its fourth launch just this year for the NRO in December using a Delta 4 from Vandenberg.

Thursday's launch will be the sixth and final of the year for the Atlas 5, all carrying missions in the national interest. Late deliveries of several more payloads, however, delayed five additional flights originally planned for 2017 until next year.

See earlier NROL-52 coverage.

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NOTMAR

NAVAREA IV 886/2017 (11,25,26)

WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.
FLORIDA.
1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS, ROCKET LAUNCHING
   050800Z TO 051008Z OCT,
   ALTERNATE 060800Z TO 061008Z OCT
   IN AREAS BOUND BY:
   A. 28-39N 080-38W, 28-43N 080-28W,
   28-37N 080-21W, 28-31N 079-28W,
   28-27N 079-28W, 28-29N 080-34W.
   B. 28-31N 079-02W, 28-21N 077-46W,
   28-11N 077-50W, 28-21N 079-05W.
   C. 25-08N 056-52W, 23-57N 052-06W,
   23-37N 052-18W, 24-52N 057-01W.
2. CANCEL THIS MSG 061108Z OCT 17.

( 010210Z OCT 2017 )

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NOTMAR на Centaur

NAVAREA XII 435/2017 (83)

EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC.
1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS 051614Z TO 051829Z OCT,
   ALTERNATE 061614Z TO 061829Z OCT
   IN AREA BOUND BY
   12-58N 157-10W, 12-13N 151-55W,
   10-46N 152-08W, 11-30N 157-22W.
2. CANCEL THIS MSG 061929Z OCT 17.

( 290756Z SEP 2017 )

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Atlas V NROL-52 Payload Mate

United Launch Alliance

Опубликовано: 3 окт. 2017 г.

A 4-meter diameter payload fairing, with the National Reconnaissance Office's NROL-52 mission encapsulated inside, is mated to an Atlas V rocket at the Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex-41.

(1:06)

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Прогноз погоды L-2

Atlas V AV-075 NROL-52 L-2 Forecast
 
60 % GO

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ULA‏Подлинная учетная запись @ulalaunch 50 сек. назад

Whew! Windy day at Cape Canaveral, but #AtlasV with #NROL52 is on the launch pad. A photo from roll this morning. @NatReconOfc

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10/03/2017 19:07

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket with the NROL-52 spacecraft aboard moved to the launch pad this morning for liftoff Thursday to serve the national interest.

Спойлер

The 194-foot-tall rocket was rolled out from the vertical assembly building to the pad at Cape Canaveral's Complex 41.

Liftoff is scheduled for 4:07 a.m. EDT (0807 GMT) to deliver the craft to a classified orbital perch.

The Atlas 5 began its third-of-a-mile trek to the launch pad with first-motion at 11a.m. EDT (1500 GMT), arriving atop Complex 41 just before noon. The first stage will be filled with 25,000 gallons of RP-1 fuel, a highly-refined kerosene, later today.

After a crew rest day Wednesday to sync with the early morning launch, countdown clocks begin ticking around 9 p.m. on Wednesday.

It will be the 16th time that the NRO has used the Atlas 5 to deliver one of its national security payloads into orbit.

The 421 version of the Atlas 5 will do the lifting this time. It has flown 6 times in the past 15 years. It is distinguished with a four-meter-diameter nose cone, two side-mounted solid boosters and a single-engine Centaur.

Weather forecasters give a 60 percent chance of good conditions for launch.

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Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 13 мин. назад

She's not an Atlas V 541 (or a 551, heh - the bigger the rocket, the more I like them), but that's a good looking LV. ULA rollout photos of Atlas 421 ahead of the NROL-52 launch. For additional photos: http://www.ulalaunch.com/file-library.aspx?launchEventID=287 ...

Спойлер

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ULA‏Подлинная учетная запись @ulalaunch 6 мин. назад

Photos! ULA's #AtlasV rocket rolls out to Space Launch Complex-41 with the #NROL52 mission for the @NatReconOfc http://bit.ly/2xZf8GH 

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/10/03/photos-atlas-5-rolls-out-for-nrol-52-flight/

Photos: Atlas 5 rocket rolls out for NROL-52 flight
October 3, 2017 Justin Ray

CAPE CANAVERAL — Riding the rails between its assembly building and the launch pad, an Atlas 5 rocket topped with a clandestine national security satellite was rolled out this morning for Thursday's liftoff at 4:07 a.m. EDT (0807 GMT).

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United Launch Alliance technicians executed a smooth transfer in windy conditions, moving the 194-foot-tall rocket atop its 1.4-million pound launching platform the 1,800-foot distance.

The trek from the 30-story Vertical Integration Facility to the Complex 41 launch pad used specially-made "trackmobiles" to carry the vehicle.

Once at the pad, autocouplers were engaged to feed the rocket with its commodities from the ground.

The launch team has begun its crew sync period to adjust for the overnight countdown operations.
Clocks begin ticking Wednesday evening for the seven-hour process to activate the Atlas-Centaur, run final tests and then fuel the stages with cryogenics.

Weather forecasters continue to predict a 60 percent chance of favorable conditions for liftoff.

See earlier NROL-52 coverage.


Credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now


Credit: United Launch Alliance


Credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now


Credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now


Credit: United Launch Alliance


Credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now


Credit: United Launch Alliance


Credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now


Credit: United Launch Alliance


Credit: United Launch Alliance


Credit: United Launch Alliance


Credit: United Launch Alliance


Credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now


Credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now


Credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now


Credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now


Credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now


Credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now


Credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now


Credit: United Launch Alliance

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lnm07392017.pdf, 5-я стр
 

Предпочтительное время запуска - 08:06 UTC

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Tory Bruno‏Подлинная учетная запись @torybruno 39 мин.39 минут назад

Feels like this will be a good evening to go to space

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Прогноз погоды L-1

Atlas V AV-075 NROL-52 L-1 Forecast
 
60 % GO, ветренно-облачно...

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10/04/2017 17:18
This is a crew sync day for the Atlas 5 launch team, giving personnel time to rest before starting the countdown late tonight for tomorrow's early morning liftoff.

Спойлер

Weather forecasters continue to predict a 60 percent chance of acceptable liftoff conditions, with only cloudiness and winds a concern.

Clocks begin ticking around 9 p.m. EDT with power up of the Atlas and Centaur stages. Fueling the vehicle with cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen begins around 2 a.m.

The historical odds of NROL-52 launching on the first try are 78 percent, based on the Atlas 5's previous countdowns over the past 15 years.

Of the 73 launches of Atlas 5 to date:

-38 have gone at opening of window on first attempt
-19 went on first attempt but slipped later into the window
-13 missions had scrubs (6-Technical, 4-Weather, 3-Range)
-3 missions had more than one scrub

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