NROL-101 - Atlas V 531 (AV-086) - CCAFS SLC-41 - 13.11.2020 22:32 UTC

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11/02/2020 20:51 Spaceflight Now

The Atlas 5 has passed the half way point in its approximately 1,800-foot trek to launchpad 41.

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11/02/2020 20:59 Spaceflight Now

The Atlas 5 rocket is now nearing pad 41.

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11/02/2020 21:24 Spaceflight Now


 The Atlas 5's mobile platform followed rail tracks leading to the pad as two "trackmobile" vehicles pushed the stack.The Atlas 5 rocket has arrived at Complex 41 after a false start departing the Vertical Integration Facility.

The rocket originally departed the VIF at around 10:15am EST (15:15 GMT) but reversed course and returned to the building just over an hour later. It emerged again at around 12:30pm EST (1730 GMT). United Launch Alliance has not yet provided an explanation for the earlier aborted rollout.

Now the vehicle is at the launch pad automatic couplers will connect the Atlas 5 to ground systems, and the Atlas 5 team will complete inspections, checkouts and other activities.

Liquid oxygen will be loaded in the first stage during the countdown Tuesday afternoon, along with liquid hydrogen and liquid hydrogen for the Atlas 5's Centaur upper stage. RP-1 fuel for the first stage was loaded last month during a countdown dress rehearsal.

The latest forecast issued this morning indicates an 90% chance of favorable weather conditions for launch at 5:58 p.m. EST (2258 GMT). The primary weather concern is with ground winds at Cape Canaveral.

Forecasters predict northeast surface winds of around 15 to 20 knots at launch time, with scattered clouds at 4,000 feet. The temperature at launch time should be around 71 degrees Fahrenheit.

If the launch is pushed back to Wednesday, there is a 70% chance of acceptable weather.

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Nov 02, 2020 21:29

On the Pad

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket stands atop its Cape Canaveral pad for Tuesday's NROL-101 launch in support of U.S. national security.

The Atlas V rollout today completed the rocket's first 1,800 feet on its journey into space, traveling by rail from the Vertical Integration Facility to the Space Launch Complex-41 pad.


photo by United Launch Alliance

The Mobile Launch Platform traveled to the pad with the help of undercarriage railcars and trackmobile machines that push the entire 1.7-million-pound MLP and Atlas V 531 rocket along tracks up the hill to the pad.

The MLP convoy was led by two boxcars, called the PVan and GVan. The payload support van houses spacecraft ground equipment such as the electrical and communication interfaces between the spacecraft systems and the launch pad throughout the countdown. The ground van supports the launch vehicle with a dedicated set of control electronics.
 
Bringing up the rear were two portable environmental control system (ECS) trailers that supply conditioned air to the rocket's compartments during rollout.

This afternoon, umbilical connections will be made with launch pad systems and the ECS feeding conditioned air to the rocket and payload will be switched to facility supplies to allow the portable trailers used during rollout to be unplugged and moved away.

The seven-hour launch countdown will begin Tuesday morning, leading to a liftoff of the Atlas V rocket at 5:58 p.m. EST (2258 UTC).

Our live countdown updates will begin on this page at 11:00 a.m. EST (1600 UTC).

The live video webcast of the launch begins at 5:38 p.m. EST (2238 UTC) and will also be viewable on this page.

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 Emre Kelly @EmreKelly 42 мин. назад

Atlas V NROL-101 rollout @ 5000%

(0:40)

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 ULA @ulalaunch 12 мин. назад

Wondering when and where you may see the #AtlasV #NROL101 launch? This visibility map shows your best chances to see the rocket in the Southeastern U.S.! Launch is scheduled for tomorrow at 5:58 p.m. EST from Cape Canaveral.

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Не только не всякая Дельта... но и не всякий Атлас тоже... 

11/03/2020 00:10 Launch Delay! Spaceflight Now

Tomorrow's launch of a classified payload National Reconnaissance Office is being delayed. We'll bring you more news when we have it.

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11/03/2020 00:15 Spaceflight Now

A United Launch Alliance spokeswoman told photographers about to set up cameras at the launch pad that the vehicle would be rolling back to the Vertical Integration Facility.

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 Trevor Mahlmann @TrevorMahlmann 8 мин. назад

ULA announces to media during remote camera setup they will will need to roll the Atlas V launch vehicle and NROL-101 payload back to the Vertical Integration Facility a second time. Earlier today, the convoy stopped about a quarter of the way to SLC-41 and rolled back.

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Таки задержка на сутки

Nov 03, 2020 02:41

Atlas V NROL-101 to Launch Nov. 4

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., (Nov. 2, 2020) --The launch of a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the NROL-101 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office is now planned for Nov. 4, 2020, at 5:54 p.m. EST.

The Atlas V was rolled to the pad today for final launch processing. Upon arriving at the launch pad we experienced an upper payload environmental control system flow rate reduction. The team is in the process of rolling the Atlas V back to the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) to complete troubleshooting. The vehicle and payload are healthy.

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К #69

Tory Bruno @torybruno 8 мин. назад

Going to roll #L101 back to the VIF. Very high winds at the pad. May have sustained damage to the upper ECS duct. Spacecraft is fine, but need to check it out.

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11/03/2020 03:32 Spaceflight Now

The Atlas 5 has started its return journey to the Vertical Integration Facility.

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11/03/2020 04:09 Spaceflight Now

The Atlas 5 is back inside the Vertical Integration Facility. Inside the building, engineers can troubleshoot possible wind damage to an umbilical that provides environmental control for the rocket's payload.

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https://tass.ru/kosmos/9901137

3 НОЯ, 09:01
ULA перенесла запуск ракеты с разведывательным спутником США на 4 ноября
В компании сообщили, что причиной переноса стало обнаружение сбоя в функционировании системы контроля параметров окружающей среды в "верхней части полезной нагрузки"

НЬЮ-ЙОРК, 3 ноября. /ТАСС/. Американская компания United Launch Alliance (ULA) по техническим причинам перенесла на 4 ноября планировавшийся на вторник запуск ракеты-носителя Atlas V с секретным аппаратом NROL-101 для нужд Национального управления военно-космической разведки США.

Как сообщила ULA на своем сайте, причиной переноса запуска стало обнаружение - уже на стартовой площадке - сбоя в функционировании системы контроля параметров окружающей среды в "верхней части полезной нагрузки". В компании отметили, что ракета-носитель и "полезная нагрузка" в полном порядке.

Теперь запуск запланирован на 4 ноября в 17:54 по времени Восточного побережья США (01:54 мск, 5 ноября).

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Прогноз погоды L-1 на 4 ноября 2020 г. (UTC)

Atlas V L-101 L-1 Day Forecast for 4 Nov Launch

Пусковой день (04.11) - = 70 % GO

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 Emre Kelly @EmreKelly 2 ч. назад

Atlas V has not yet begun its trek out of the VIF for NROL-101. Still a little breezy out here.

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11/04/2020 00:37 Stephen Clark

After an unexpected return to the hangar last night, the Atlas 5 rocket has re-emerged from the Vertical Integration Facility for the trip to pad 41 at Cape Canaveral for liftoff with a classified NRO payload Wednesday at 5:54 p.m. EST (2254 GMT).

The Atlas 5 launcher will loft a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, which owns the U.S. government's intelligence-gathering spy satellites.

United Launch Alliance rolled the 206-foot-tall (63-meter) rocket to pad 41 yesterday, but teams returned the rocket to the VIF last night to troubleshoot possible wind damage to an umbilical that provides environmental control for the Atlas 5's classified payload.

The unplanned rollback forced ULA to delay the launch by one day to Wednesday.

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 Emre Kelly @EmreKelly 14 мин

And away we go. Atlas V / NROL-101 are back on the road.

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11/04/2020 00:50 Stephen Clark

The rocket is making the 1,800-foot journey from ULA's Vertical Integration Facility to the Complex 41 launch pad this afternoon to begin final pre-flight preparations.

The 206-foot-tall (63-meter) Atlas 5 sits on top of a mobile launch platform pushed by locomotives along rail tracks leading to the launch pad. The transfer should take less than an hour to complete.

The launch will mark the 86th flight of an Atlas 5 rocket. The rocket will fly in its "531" configuration with a five-meter-diameter payload shroud, three solid rocket boosters, and a single-engine Centaur upper stage. This version of the Atlas 5 has flown three times before, all with AEHF communications satellites for the U.S. military.

Stacking of the Atlas 5 rocket — tail number AV-090 — inside the VIF began Sept. 11 with the hoisting of the first stage vertical on top of the Atlas mobile launch platform. ULA teams later added the three solid rocket boosters, made by Northrop Grumman, and the Centaur upper stage.

The NRO's classified payload inside the Atlas 5's Swiss-made payload fairing was raised atop the rocket Oct. 26 to cap off assembly of the rocket.

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11/04/2020 00:55 Stephen Clark

The Atlas 5 has passed the half way point in its approximately 1,800-foot trek to launch pad 41.