ULA - Atlas V / STP - LCRD Mission poster.
Dec. 7, 2021
We have liftoff! At 5:19 a.m., United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V 551 rocket is on its way to orbit, carrying satellites and technology experiments on the Department of Defense and U.S. Space Force’s Space Test Program 3 mission.
Image above: A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launches on the Department of Defense’s Space Test Program 3 (STP-3) mission from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021. The mission’s Space Test Program Satellite-6 (STPSat-6) spacecraft hosts NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) and the NASA-U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Ultraviolet Spectro-Coronagraph (UVSC) Pathfinder. Photo Credit: ULA.
Solid Rocket Booster Separation
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 551 rocket has jettisoned its five solid rocket boosters and is approaching payload fairing jettison.
Atlas V launches STP-3
At this point in its ascent, the Atlas V is burning propellant at a rate of 2,000 pounds per second, traveling more than 7,500 miles per hour and located 64 miles in altitude and 150 miles down range.
Main engine cutoff will occur about a minute after booster jettison, followed shortly by Atlas Centaur separation.
First Main Engine Cutoff
The first main engine cutoff, or MECO-1, is confirmed for the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket’s Centaur upper stage. It will coast in this preliminary Earth orbit for the next hour before the second burn begins.
Flight Profile
The Atlas launched the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Space Test Program 3 (STP-3), which hosts NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) and the NASA-U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Ultraviolet Spectro-Coronagraph (UVSC) Pathfinder.
LCRD Is On Its Way!
Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD)
The Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) mission has successfully launched, completed two Centaur engine burns, and is on its way! The Department of Defense’s (DOD) Space Test Program 3 (STP-3) mission sent two satellites including the Space Test Program Satellite-6 (STPSat-6) spacecraft, which hosted two NASA payloads – LCRD and the NASA-U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Ultraviolet Spectro-Coronagraph (UVSC) Pathfinder – to space. STPSat-6 is scheduled to separate from Centaur into geosynchronous orbit in about 6 hours.
Related articles:
Getting NASA Data to the Ground With Lasers
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/10/getting-nasa-data-to-ground-with-lasers.html
NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration Gears Up for Launch
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/10/nasas-laser-communications-relay.html
Laser Communications: Empowering More Data Than Ever Before
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/05/laser-communications-empowering-more.html
New Ground Station Brings Laser Communications Closer To Reality
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/08/new-ground-station-brings-laser.html
NASA Taking First Steps Toward High-speed Space ‘Internet’
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2017/03/nasa-taking-first-steps-toward-high.html
Related links:
Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/tdm/lcrd/index.html
Ultraviolet Spectro-Coronagraph (UVSC): https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/uvsc-pathfinding-experiment-study-origins-of-solar-energetic-particles/
United Launch Alliance (ULA): https://www.ulalaunch.com/
Images, Video, Text, Credits: ULA/NASA/Leejay Lockhart/NASA TV/SciNews.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
