• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • NEWS:
  • SatNews
  • SatMagazine
  • MilSatMagazine
  • SmallSat News
  • |     EVENTS:
  • SmallSat Symposium
  • Satellite Innovation
  • MilSat Symposium

SatNews

  • HOME
  • Magazines
  • Events
  • SmallSat Europe Insights
  • Industry Calendar
    • IN PERSON
    • VIRTUAL
  • Subscribe

ULA’s Atlas V Arrives @ Canaveral To Launch The Lockheed Martin-Built SBIRS GEO-5 Satellite For The USSF

April 1, 2021

The R/S RocketShip brings the Atlas V rocket to Cape Canaveral for launch of the SBIRS GEO-5 satellite. Photo is courtesy of United Launch Alliance

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket built to carry a sophisticated U.S. national security satellite (SBIRS GEO Flight 5) into space arrived at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 1 after sailing from the factory aboard the R/S RocketShip.

The Atlas V booster stage and Centaur upper stage left the ULA manufacturing facility in Decatur, Alabama, on March 23 aboard the company’s custom-built, rocket transportation vessel. The ship traveled shallow rivers and open ocean to reach Port Canaveral in the evening of March 31, 2021.

The Atlas stage arrives at the ASOC today. Photo by United Launch Alliance.

At dawn on April 1, technicians boarded the vessel and went to work releasing the restraints that kept the flight hardware secure inside RocketShip’s cargo hold during the trip. At 8:00 a.m. EDT, Centaur emerged from the ship and headed to the ULA facility for final preparations.

The Atlas booster stage followed behind. A transport truck pulled the stage directly to the ordnance bay at the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center (ASOC) where it will undergo standard activities before the 107-foot-long stage can go vertical for launch processing.

The rocket will launch the fifth Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (SBIRS GEO-5) missile warning satellite for the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC).

Built by Lockheed Martin, SBIRS GEO-5 will join a constellation of satellites with powerful scanning and staring sensors that provides continuous global surveillance to detect missile launches and provide early warning for the Unites States and its allies.

This will be the first launch for a satellite built on the company’s modernized LM 2100 Combat Bus™ – an enhanced space vehicle that provides even greater resiliency and cyber-hardening against growing threats, as well as improved spacecraft power, propulsion and electronics.

Lockheed Martin’s SBIRS GEO-5 satellite, the first military space satellite built on a modernized LM 2100™ combat bus. Photo is courtesy of Lockheed Martin.

Atlas V is the exclusive launch vehicle of choice for the SBIRS GEO spacecraft series. The rocket successfully launched the first in 2011, second in 2013, third in 2017 and fourth in 2018. Atlas V is also slated to launch SBIRS GEO-6 in 2022.

The SBIRS GEO Flight 5 launch will use an Atlas V 421 variant, with a four-meter-diameter (13.7-foot) payload fairing, two AJ-60 solid rocket boosters and a Centaur equipped with a single RL10C-1-1 cryogenic engine.

Filed Under: Launch, Launch Vehicle, Manufacturing, SMC, U.S. Space Force Tagged With: Featured

Primary Sidebar

Most Read Stories

  • In celebration of Juneteenth
  • Wishing Everyone a Happy July 4th … Independence Day, U.S.A.
  • Eutelsat's efforts to obtain funding to save OneWeb
  • Forrester's Digest: Starlink active in Iran
  • Startical launches the firm's 2nd demo satellite — IOD-2

About Satnews

  • Contacts
  • History

Archives

  • July 2025
  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020

Secondary Sidebar

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
x
Sign up Now (For Free)
Access daily or weekly satellite news updates covering all aspects of the commercial and military satellite industry.
Invalid email address
Notify Me Regarding ( At least one ):
We value your privacy and will not sell or share your email or other information with any other company. You may also unsubscribe at anytime.

Click Here to see our full privacy policy.
Thanks for subscribing!