Atlas 5

ESPA rings were originally developed to carry secondary payloads on Pentagon-funded Atlas V and Delta IV launches and have become a standard for accommodating small satellites on EELV-class and commercial launches such as United Launch Alliance vehicles and SpaceX Falcon 9.

United Launch Alliance plans to launch Boeing’s Starliner Orbital Flight Test 2 mission to the International Space Station on 2021-07-30 before resuming Atlas V flights with the older RL10 configuration.

United Launch Alliance will not use the upgraded RL10 upper-stage engine with the carbon nozzle extension in upcoming Atlas V missions while it investigates vibrations observed during a 2021-05-18 flight.

The second uncrewed Starliner test flight, OFT-2, is scheduled to launch on an Atlas V on 2021-07-30 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

In 2016 Congress directed the Department of Defense to stop using launch vehicles powered by Russian engines and allowed DoD to award contracts for Atlas V launches only through 2022.

The Department of Defense launched satellites on United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket, which uses the RD-180 engine to power its first stage, for decades.

If United Launch Alliance cannot complete engine qualification before the 2021 flight certification, the program might continue to rely on ULA’s Atlas V to support 2022 launches despite a nearly $2,900,000,000 investment in Vulcan development.

SBIRS GEO-5 was deployed in geosynchronous orbit on 2021-05-18 via an Atlas V rocket that lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V 551 rocket carrying the STP-3 mission for the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center has been delayed to evaluate launch vehicle readiness.

United Launch Alliance announced in 2015 that it would build Vulcan as its next-generation rocket to replace the Atlas 5 and the Delta 4.

Congressional legislation prohibits the Department of Defense from awarding contracts for Atlas 5 launches after 2022-12-31, due to the Atlas 5 using the Russian RD-180 main engine.

The Atlas 5 rocket used on the SBIRS GEO-5 mission had a four-meter-diameter payload fairing and two side-mounted solid rocket boosters.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the SBIRS GEO Flight 5 mission lifted off on 2021-05-18 at 1:37 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The Atlas V rocket for the SBIRS GEO-5 mission used an Atlas V 421 configuration with a 13.7-foot (4-meter) Extra Extended Payload Fairing.

The Atlas V 421 launch vehicle for the SBIRS GEO-5 mission stood 59.1 m (59 m) tall.

Atlas 5 will continue to launch civil and commercial payloads and retains six remaining National Security Space Launch missions under contract from the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center.

SBIRS GEO-6 is planned to launch on an Atlas 5 rocket.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted off 2021-05-18 at 1:37 p.m. Eastern from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.