(Updated with statements from the ULA executive and photo added)
Miami, Aug 4 (EFE).- The sixth and final United States Armed Forces satellite for early missile detection was successfully launched this Thursday from a platform in Cape Canaveral, Florida (USA) .
As scheduled, the SBIRS GEO 6 satellite lifted off atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket at 6:29 a.m. local time (10:29 GMT) from Force Station Cape Canaveral Space.
Less than thirty minutes later, the Atlas V separates and the satellite continues on its way pushed by the Centauro rocket, also from ULA, towards its position in geosynchronous orbit (synchronized with the rotation of the Earth).
About three hours after takeoff, SBIRS GEO 6 was finally placed in this orbit to operate as the other 5 satellites of this program already do.
El de hoy, construido por la firma Lockheed Martin, es el sexto y último satélite del Sistema Infrarrojo Basado en el Espacio (SBIRS, por sus siglas en inglés), el cual reemplaza el anterior sistema del Programa de Apoyo a la Defensa del Ejército de United States.
The first of this series of satellites built for the US Space Force, one of the 8 arms of the US Armed Forces, was launched in 2011 and the following did so in 2013, 2017, 2018 and 2021.
The satellites, which represent a multi-billion dollar investment, use infrared observation and scanning sensors to detect missile launches and provide early warning.
“We are proud of our role in combat support by launching the entire SBIRS satellite constellation, a critical constellation of missile warning satellites that enhances the U.S. military’s situational awareness on the battlefield. battle and beyond,” said ULA vice president Gary Wentz. commercial and government programs, said today.
Today is ULA’s 152nd successful launch, and the consortium’s 95th for the US government’s National Space Security program.
It’s also the fifth mission so far in 2022 for the mighty Atlas V rocket, which, adding the payload fairing (where the satellite is housed) in this mission, lifted off nearly 60 meters high.
This afternoon, at the same complex in Florida, SpaceX plans to launch a Falcon 9 rocket with the KPLO probe at its peak, in what will be South Korea’s first lunar mission.
The KPLO (Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter), weighing approximately 678 kilograms, will orbit the Moon for a year to carry out scientific tests and experiments and take images of the Earth’s surface in preparation for a future lunar landing and landing plans. South Korean lunar exploration.
NASA will provide technical and communications support for this first Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) lunar mission. EFE
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