AFSPC-7/USSF-7: X-37B OTV-6 – Atlas V 501 – CCAFS SLC-41 – 17.05.2020 13:14 UTC

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https://www.ulalaunch.com/missions/atlas-v-ussf-7

ATLAS V TO LAUNCH USSF-7



• Rocket: Atlas V 501 
• Mission: USSF-7 
• Launch Date: May 2020
• Launch Location: Space Launch Complex-41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida

Mission Information: A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 501 configuration rocket will launch the USSF-7 mission for the U.S. Space Force. This will mark the sixth flight of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-6).

OTV is an experimental test program to demonstrate technologies for reliable, reusable, unmanned space test platform for the U.S. military. The primary objectives of the X-37B include reusable spacecraft technologies for America's future in space and operating experiments which can be returned to and examined on Earth.

Launch Notes: This will be the 139th mission for United Launch Alliance. It is the 84th for an Atlas V rocket and the 7th in the 501 configuration.

Go Atlas! Go Centaur! Go USSF-7!

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/04/07/next-gps-launch-delayed-by-coronavirus-concerns/

Next GPS launch delayed by coronavirus concerns; X-37B launch remains on track
April 7, 2020 | Stephen Clark

...
..., the next launch of the military's X-37B spaceplane remains on track for liftoff in May on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, officials said.
...

As of Monday, CNBC reported that six SpaceX employees have tested positive for the coronavirus. ULA confirmed Monday that one of its employees at a facility near Denver tested positive for the virus.

Other Space Force operations are proceeding according to plan, SMC said.
...


File photo of an X-37B spaceplane being encapsulated inside the nose cone of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket before its first test flight in April 2010. Credit. U.S. Air Force

Space Force officials are also moving forward with preparations for launch of the military's X-37B spaceplane aboard the next flight of ULA's Atlas 5 rocket next month, according to Col. Robert Bongiovi, SMC's launch enterprise director.

That mission is codenamed USSF-7, and was formerly known as AFSPC-7.

"We have decided to continue with the USSF-7 launch," Bongiovi said in a statement in response to questions from Spaceflight Now.

Space Force officials last week said the USSF-7 mission was scheduled for launch May 20.

Built by Boeing and readied for launch in a former space shuttle hangar at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the X-37B spaceplane will be encapsulated inside the Atlas 5's payload fairing and transported to Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 launch pad early next month for integration with the launch vehicle.

Stacking of the Atlas 5 rocket inside ULA's Vertical Integration Facility should begin later this month.

The military has two X-37B vehicles, which launch atop conventional rockets and can remain in orbit for years to perform top secret missions. The reusable spaceplane, which flies without astronauts on-board, resembles a miniature space shuttle and returns to Earth for landing on a runway.

There have been five X-37B missions since 2010.

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ULA ✔@ulalaunch 3:35 PM - Apr 23, 2020

Another #AtlasV launch campaign begins with Launch Vehicle on Stand (LVOS) day! Today at Cape Canaveral, technicians will start assembling the #AtlasV 501 rocket that will launch the United States Space Force-7 (#USSF7) mission. Watch for tweets throughout the day!

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ULA ✔@ulalaunch 4:44 PM - Apr 23, 2020

ULA is using the #AtlasV 501 rocket to launch the #USSF7 mission. The two-stage rocket with a five-meter diameter payload fairing and no solid-fuel boosters is best suited for this mission. It will be the 7th flight of the #AtlasV 501.

[Старый]

А почему не Флаконом?  :oops: 

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ULA ✔@ulalaunch 5:26 PM - Apr 23, 2020

The Vertical Integration Facility's overhead crane is working in tandem with a ground handling fixture to guide the 107-foot-long #AtlasV first stage to stand upright.

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Tory Bruno ✔@torybruno 1:02 AM - Apr 22, 2020

I could tell you, but then...

DutchSpace @DutchSpace 8:56 PM - Apr 21, 2020

Hey @ulalaunch @torybruno what is the story with USSF-7 (AFSPC-7) ? one says May 20th, another says May 16th ? #OTV6 #X37B

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ULA ✔@ulalaunch 6:27 PM - Apr 23, 2020

This will be ULA's 139th flight since the company was formed. Nearly two-thirds of those missions have delivered critical U.S. national security payloads into space, all successfully.

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ULA ✔@ulalaunch 6:56 PM - Apr 23, 2020

The #AtlasV first stage is being secured to the Mobile Launch Platform inside the Vertical Integration Facility to complete LVOS. In the days ahead, the Centaur upper stage will be added and a full testing program conducted to verify the rocket is ready to receive its payload.

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Tory Bruno ✔@torybruno 10:58 PM - Apr 23, 2020

LVOS for #USSF7 is complete! Here's a #ToryTimelapse of today's operations

(0:19)

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/04/24/ula-begins-stacking-rocket-for-next-launch-of-u-s-military-spaceplane/

ULA begins stacking rocket for next launch of U.S. military spaceplane
April 24, 2020 | Stephen Clark


An Atlas 5 first stage was raised vertical Thursday inside United Launch Alliance's Vertical Integration Facility. Credit: United Launch Alliance

United Launch Alliance technicians raised the first stage of the company's next Atlas 5 rocket onto a mobile launch platform at Cape Canaveral Thursday, kicking off the launch vehicle's build-up for a mission scheduled for liftoff May 16 with the U.S. military's X-37B spaceplane.

The Atlas 5's 107-foot-tall (32.6-meter) cylindrical bronze first stage was transferred to ULA's Vertical Integration Facility early Thursday and hoisted upright by a crane. Fitted with a Russian-made RD-180 main engine, the rocket was moved over the mobile launch platform inside the vertical hangar, then lowered into position on the platform's deck.

ULA's ground team will next add the Atlas 5's Centaur upper stage, which has been outfitted with the Atlas 5's interstage adapter and the lower portion of the rocket's aerodynamic payload fairing. The elements will be stacked on top of the Atlas 5 first stage in one piece.

Then teams will put the Atlas 5 through a series of functional checkouts and testing before stacking of the rocket's payload early next month.

The U.S. Space Force's X-37B unpiloted spaceplane will be the Atlas 5's passenger. Liftoff is scheduled for May 16, according to Col. Robert Bongiovi, head of the Space and Missile Systems Center's launch enterprise division.

A launch time for the mission has not been announced.

Formerly codenamed AFSPC-7, the mission has been re-designated USSF-7 to reflect the establishment of the U.S. Space Force last December.

The military has two X-37B spaceplanes in in its inventory. Built by Boeing, the reusable winged vehicles are designed to take off on top of conventional rockets, operate in Earth orbit for years at a time, then re-enter the atmosphere and land on a runway.

The X-37B spaceplane — also called the the Orbital Test Vehicle — is shaped like a mini-space shuttle. The robotic spaceship flies without a crew, and can carry experiments, small satellites and other payloads inside a cargo bay the size of the bed of a pickup truck.

The mission scheduled for launch May 16 will mark the sixth flight of an X-37B spaceplane since 2010. The most recent X-37B mission concluded with a landing at the Kennedy Space Center on Oct. 27, wrapping up a flight that lasted more than two years.

Four of the X-37B missions have launched on top of Atlas 5 rockets, and one has launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.


File photo of an X-37B spaceplane being encapsulated inside the nose cone of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket before its first test flight in April 2010. Credit. U.S. Air Force

The experiments on the sixth X-37B mission have not been disclosed by Space Force officials.

"The primary objectives of the X-37B are twofold: Reusable spacecraft technologies for America's future in space and operating experiments which can be returned to, and examined, on Earth," officials wrote in the military's X-37B fact sheet.

"The distinctive ability to test new systems in space and return them to Earth is unique to the X-37B program and enables the U.S. to more efficiently and effectively develop space capabilities necessary to maintain superiority in the space domain," the military said in a press release last October announcing the landing of the fifth X-37B mission.

The spaceplane measures around 29 feet (8.9 meters) long and has a wing span of nearly 15 feet (4.5 meters).

The Atlas 5 rocket that will carry the X-37B spaceship into orbit will fly in the "501" configuration with 17.7-foot-diameter (5.4-meter) payload shroud made by RUAG Space, no strap-on solid rocket boosters, and a Centaur upper stage with a single Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10 engine.

It will be the seventh flight of the Atlas 5-501 variant, and the 84th launch of an Atlas 5 rocket overall since 2002.

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https://www.ulalaunch.com/explore/blog-detail/blog/2020/04/27/ussf-7-atlas-v-stacked-for-space-force-launch

USSF-7: Atlas V stacked for Space Force launch
Apr 27, 2020, 06:02 AM



A streamlined two-day process last week at Cape Canaveral assembled the Atlas V rocket to launch the United States Space Force-7 (USSF-7) mission.

ULA will use an Atlas V 501 rocket to launch USSF-7 for the U.S. Space Force's Space and Missile Systems Center. The two-stage rocket has a five-meter diameter payload fairing, no solid-fuel boosters and a single RL10C-1 engine on the Centaur upper stage.

With 860,300 pounds of liftoff thrust, the 501-variant will supply the required performance to accomplish the USSF-7 mission. It will be the seventh launch of an Atlas V 501.

Activities for Launch Vehicle on Stand (LVOS) day began before dawn Thursday, April 23 when the Atlas V first stage was hauled by semi-truck fr om the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center (ASOC) up the road the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF). The stage was parked snuggly at the building's open doorway for the overhead crane to lock on.

A mobile crane then attached to the aft-end of the rocket, allowing the entire 107-foot-long stage to be raised up and placed in the ground handling fixture that guided the Atlas V vertically.

Once standing upright, the rocket was released from the ground equipment to allow the VIF crane to hoist the booster onto the Mobile Launch Platform (MLP) for attachment to three support pedestals that hold the Atlas V until liftoff.

Then on Saturday, April 25, the interstage adapter, Centaur and lower half of the payload fairing that surrounds the upper stage -- a pre-assembled structure known as OVI, or Off-site Vertical Integration -- was delivered by trailer to the VIF.

In the early years of Atlas V operations, each piece was added one-by-one to the rocket in the VIF by way of multiple days of crane operations. ULA has since moved to the more-efficient process of connecting those pieces together in a separate facility and bringing the finished element to the VIF for one crane lift.

The OVI was lifted into the VIF wh ere technicians awaited at the top of the first stage to bolt the two pieces of flight hardware together.

The OVI installation completes the basic build up of the USSF-7 launch vehicle. Upcoming work will be focused on thoroughly checking out the Atlas V rocket's systems, flight controls and avionics ahead of bringing the payload to the VIF for hoisting atop the rocket.

The MLP will transfer the 197-foot-tall rocket to the Space Launch Complex-41 pad for the countdown, fueling and liftoff next month.

USSF-7 is the second dedicated Space Force mission following the successful Atlas V launch of the Advanced Extremely High Frequency-6 (AEHF-6) secure communications satellite on March 26.

This will also be ULA's 139th flight since the company was formed. Nearly two-thirds of those missions have delivered critical U.S. national security payloads into space, all successfully.

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https://ria.ru/20200430/1570786433.html

СМИ: США в мае запустят секретный военный мини-шаттл
10:01 30.04.2020 (обновлено: 11:11 30.04.2020)

МОСКВА, 30 апр - РИА Новости. Секретный космический челнок X-37B в интересах ВВС США планируется отправить на орбиту в мае ракетой-носителем Atlas-5 с российским двигателем РД-180, сообщил американский специализированный сайт spaceflightnow.com.

По данным сайта, следующий пуск ракеты Atlas-5 намечен на 16 мая с космодрома на мысе Канаверал (штат Флорида). В качестве ее полезной нагрузки указан секретный военный мини-шаттл X-37B. Это будет его шестой полёт в космос.

Челнок X-37B разработан американской компанией Boeing. С 2010 года состоялись пять космических полетов мини-шаттла длительностью от 225 до 780 дней с целью выполнения на орбите экспериментов в интересах ВВС США. Их подробности засекречены. Из последнего полета мини-шаттл вернулся в октябре 2019 года, выведя на орбиту три спутника неизвестного назначения.

Спойлер

Ранее бывший министр ВВС США Хизер Уилсон заявила, что необычные маневренные возможности X-37B в космосе "сводят врагов с ума".

Глава Роскосмоса Дмитрий Рогозин в октябре 2018 года выразил опасение, что X-37B может использоваться американскими военными в качестве носителя оружия. По его словам, такой аппарат нельзя засечь системой предупреждения о ракетном нападении. В то же время российские военные сообщали, что отслеживают все маневры американского челнока на орбите.

Двигатель РД-180 используется на первой ступени ракеты Atlas-5. Первый двигатель был поставлен в США в 1999 году. Всего, по данным производителя - НПО "Энергомаш" (предприятие Роскосмоса), в США отправлено 116 двигателей, при этом выполнено 89 полетов на ракетах Atlas. Ракета производится альянсом United Launch Alliance, сформированным компаниями Lockheed Martin и Boeing.

Экспорт российских двигателей в США Рогозин в сентябре 2019 года назвал взаимовыгодным проектом и отметил, что американцы покупают РД-180 из-за соотношения цена-качество.

В середине апреля 2020 года президент американской компании United Launch Alliance Тори Бруно назвал российский двигатель РД-180 технологическим чудом, хотя за два дня до этого заявлял, что покупает его по настоянию властей США, чтобы российские технологии не утекли в Иран и КНДР.

[свернуть]

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https://spacenews.com/x-37b-spaceplane-to-carry-dod-and-nasa-experiments-in-upcoming-mission/

X-37B spaceplane to carry DoD and NASA experiments in upcoming mission
by Sandra Erwin — May 6, 2020


The X-37B Operational Test Vehicle 6 will be launched to low Earth orbit on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket.

WASHINGTON — The sixth mission of the U.S. Air Force's reusable X-37B spaceplane is scheduled to launch May 16 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

The X-37B Operational Test Vehicle 6 will be launched to low Earth orbit on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket. The Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office owns the Boeing-made spaceplane, which flies and lands autonomously. The U.S. Space Force is responsible for the launch, on-orbit operations and landing of the vehicle.

OTV 6 will carry more experiments than any of the previous X-37B missions, Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett said May 6 during an online event hosted by the Space Foundation.

Randy Walden, director of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, said the upcoming X-37B mission will be the first to use a service module to host experiments. The service module is an attachment to the aft of the vehicle and "enables us to continue to expand the capabilities of the spacecraft and host more experiments than any of the previous missions," he said in a statement.

One of the experimental payloads is FalconSat-8, a small satellite developed by the U.S. Air Force Academy and funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory. The FalconSat-8 will carry five science payloads. There are also two NASA experiments to study the results of radiation and other space effects on a materials sample plate and seeds used to grow food. A U.S. Naval Research Laboratory experiment will transform solar power into radio frequency microwave energy which could then be transmitted to the ground.

The Atlas 5 rocket will fly in the 501 configuration with a five-meter fairing, a single-engine upper stage and no solid rocket motors. The mission is named USSF-7.

The design and landing profile of the X-37B — weighing about 11,000 pounds and nearly 29-foot long — is similar to NASA's Space Shuttle but it's one-fourth the size. The most recent mission OTV 5 was launched Sept. 7, 2017 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. It landed on October 27, 2019.

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К #1

Страница миссии была восстановлена ULA после некоторого перерыва и вновь доступна (с исправлениями и редакторской правкой):

https://www.ulalaunch.com/missions/atlas-v-ussf-7

• Launch Date: May 16, 2020

Абзац

OTV is an experimental test program to demonstrate technologies for reliable, reusable, unmanned space test platform for the U.S. military. The primary objectives of the X-37B include reusable spacecraft technologies for America's future in space and operating experiments which can be returned to and examined on Earth.

удалён.

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Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 56 мин. назад

ULA confirms May 16 (as previously scheduled) as the launch date for the Atlas V launch of the USSF-7 mission for the U.S. Space Force. This launch will mark the sixth flight of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-6).

Overview by @josephanavin:

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2020/04/ula-enters-lvos-ussf-7-launch/ ...

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https://www.ulalaunch.com/explore/blog-detail/blog/2020/05/06/ussf-7-payload-mounted-atop-atlas-v-for-launch

USSF-7: Payload mounted atop Atlas V for launch
May 6, 2020, 09:11 AM

The United States Space Force-7 (USSF-7) payload featuring the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle has been hoisted atop United Launch Alliance's next Atlas V rocket in preparation for launch on Saturday, May 16 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.
 
⁠

The encapsulated payload was delivered to the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) and lifted into position on Tuesday, May 5 to begin combined operations with the launch vehicle.
 
The completed 197-foot-tall rocket will be transported from the VIF to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex-41 aboard a Mobile Launch Platform for the countdown, fueling and liftoff.
 
ULA will webcast the launch on our website, allowing the public to view the mission from the safety of their homes.
 
Conducting the USSF-7 launch with the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle was deemed critical to perform during this national emergency. Personnel involved in the launch are following health guidelines such as wearing face coverings, adhering to physical distancing while on console and using virtual connections when possible.
 
This will be the 84th flight of the Atlas V and the seventh to fly in the 501 configuration with a five-meter payload fairing, no solid rocket boosters and a single RL10C-1 engine on the Centaur upper stage.
 
The Atlas V rocket has been entrusted with four previous launches of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, starting with the maiden launch in 2010. This experimental test program demonstrates technologies for a reliable, reusable, unmanned space test platform for the U.S.
 
Technologies being tested in the program include advanced guidance, navigation and control, thermal protection systems, avionics, high temperature structures and seals, conformal reusable insulation, lightweight electromechanical flight systems, advanced propulsion systems, advanced materials and autonomous orbital flight, reentry and landing.

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 Michael Sheetz‏ @thesheetztweetz 47 мин. назад

The U.S. Space Force is set to launch the 6th mission of the reusable X37-B on May 16.  Here's the spaceplane preparing for launch atop a ULA Atlas V rocket:

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 DutchSpace‏ @DutchSpace 5 мин. назад

Of course I can't help myself and have to look into the new photos, at first glance (TBC) it looks like OTV-6 is vehicle 1, if true, this would make sense, as OTV-4 and OTV-5 were likely both flown by vehicle 2 as vehicle 1 was down for the new aft service module mod. #X37B #OTV6

[АниКей]

В США рассказали подробности предстоящего полета шаттла X-37B
МОСКВА, 6 мая - РИА Новости.  Секретный космический мини-шаттл X-37B, который планируется вывести на  орбиту в мае ракетой-носителем Atlas-5 с российским двигателем РД-180, проведёт в космосе большое количество экспериментов, в том числе два в интересах НАСА, говорится в сообщении на Космических сил США.

Старт ракеты Atlas-5 с челноком X-37B с космодрома на мысе Канаверал (штат Флорида) намечается на 16 мая.

"Шестой  полёт является большим шагом для программы X-37B. Это будет первый  полёт X-37B с использованием служебного модуля с аппаратурой для  экспериментов. Внедрение служебного модуля в этом полёте позволяет нам  продолжить расширение возможностей космического корабля и провести  больше экспериментов, чем в любом из предыдущих полётах", - сказал  директор управления быстрых возможностей ВВС США Рэнди Вальден, слова  которого приводятся в сообщении на сайте военного ведомства.
Космические  силы США отметили, что в ходе миссии X-37B планируется вывести малый  спутник FalconSat-8 с пятью экспериментальными полезными нагрузками  академии ВВС США.

Также  планируются два эксперимента НАСА по исследованию влияния радиации и  других факторов космического полёта на материалы и семена. Кроме того,  согласно сообщению, исследовательская лаборатория ВМС США проведёт эксперимент по преобразованию солнечной энергии в радиочастотную микроволновую энергию для передачи на Землю.

Челнок  X-37B разработан американской компанией Boeing. С 2010 года состоялись  пять космических полетов мини-шаттла длительностью от 225 до 780 дней с  целью выполнения на орбите экспериментов в интересах ВВС США. Их  подробности засекречены. Из последнего полета мини-шаттл вернулся в  октябре 2019 года, выведя на орбиту три спутника неизвестного  назначения.

Ранее бывший министр ВВС США Хизер Уилсон заявила, что необычные маневренные возможности X-37B в космосе "сводят врагов с ума".

Генеральный директор "Роскосмоса" Дмитрий Рогозин  в октябре 2018 года выразил опасение, что X-37B может использоваться  американскими военными в качестве носителя оружия. По его словам, такой  аппарат нельзя засечь системой предупреждения о ракетном нападении. В то  же время российские военные сообщали, что отслеживают все маневры  американского челнока на орбите.