The Atlas 5 rocket propels a $ 1.8 billion military communications satellite into space

Lighting up the night sky, a powerful Atlas 5 rocket moved away from Florida early Wednesday, carrying a $ 1.8 billion military telecommunications satellite designed to withstand the most powerful fogs and even effects of a nearby nuclear explosion in order to maintain communication with the world troops.

The first Russian-built RD-180 engine from the Atlas 5, built in Russia, took off under a brilliant jet of flame at 12:15 EDT, followed immediately by the ignition of five Aerojet solid-fueled propellant engines. Rocketdyne.

Generating a combined 2.6 million pound thrust, the powerful engine and side boosters quickly repelled the 197-foot high platform 41-meter rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, lighting Florida's "Space Coast" on several tens of kilometers.

It was only the ninth flight of the most powerful "551" version of the United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5, a variant that debuted in 2006 when it powered the New Horizons spacecraft. from NASA on an accelerated trajectory towards Pluto.

Under the effect of a dazzling air show, the rocket quickly swung eastward over the Atlantic Ocean, dragging a long jet of flame that devoured the thrusters, lost weight and continued to accelerate out of control. the lower atmosphere thick.

The belt thrusters fell about a little less than two minutes after take-off and the first leg followed, two and a half minutes later. At this point, a Rocketdyne RL10C Aerojet engine running on hydrogen in the second stage of the Centaur rocket has taken over, continuing the preliminary ascent into orbit.

Perched at the top of the Centaurus was the Pentagon's fourth highest-frequency communications satellite en route to a circular orbit 22,300 miles above the equator. At this altitude, satellites take 24 hours to complete an orbit and therefore appear stationary in the sky, which allows for fixed antennas on the ground.

To reach this orbit, the Centaur's engine had to be thrown three times, placing the satellite in an elliptical orbit with a peak of about 21,800 miles and a planned planned point of 5,500 miles.

The onboard propellers will be used to circularize the orbit at 22,300 miles and to maneuver the AEHF-4 satellite into its final operational location, joining three other AEHF relay stations already in space. Two more are expected to be launched in 2019 and 2020.

Built by Lockheed Martin, AEFH satellites are designed to provide a global network of secure, traffic-free communications for strategic command and control and tactical missions around the world. Satellites are shared by the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

"This is the country's only strategically and strategically protected satellite communications network," said Mike Cacheiro, Lockheed Martin AEHF Program Manager. "It is also the only system that survives after a near nuclear explosion and can provide communications in environments that other communication systems could not.

"So, in a very bad light, you really want to have this system in place," he said.

AEHF satellites can handle 10 times more data than the old Milstar relay stations they replace, have extreme encryption, and are designed to give senior leaders a surviving communication channel with military forces at all levels. of conflict, including nuclear war ", says in a brochure describing the mission.

The new satellites are also equipped with advanced technology to resist attempts to jam the enemy.

"Advanced EHF is designed to withstand the most complex and sophisticated scrambling threats that exist," said Cacheiro. The new satellites are "essential for our secure and resilient communications for our fighters and our commander-in-chief, who must survive and carry out virtually all operations."

The first two satellites of the AEHF system, launched in 2010 and 2012, cost about $ 5.8 billion, including ground systems and terminals. The third satellite in the series cost about $ 900 million. The fourth satellite, with various modifications, cost $ 1.8 billion, officials said.

Upon arrival and departure, the AEHF-4 satellite will join its three siblings in a circle around the planet, providing continuous communication coverage between 65 degrees north and south latitude. Satellites can be interconnected to route communications around the world from different ground stations.

"It's not only incredibly secure, it offers unprecedented speed and bandwidth for protected channels," said Cacheiro. "In fact, an advanced EHF satellite has the same capacity as the existing constellation of five Milstar satellites currently in orbit – the bit rate is 10 times greater than the one we have on Milstar.

"So, at a time when you want to broadcast videos of our fighters, it took days, now takes hours, and taking hours for data messages now takes a few minutes." For voice data, what used to happen takes a few seconds and we are literally bringing unprecedented capabilities to the fighter. "