AEHF-5

United Launch Alliance launched the AEHF-5 communications satellite for the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center on an Atlas V rocket.

AEHF-5 has a mass of 6,500 kg and completes a geostationary ring of five satellites providing global coverage for the United States and international partners Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

The AEHF-5 launch window on August 8, 2019 was scheduled to open at 05:44 a.m. EDT (09:44 UTC) and extend to 07:44 a.m. EDT (11:44 UTC), a duration of 120 minutes.

As of August 28, 2019, one cataloged orbital element set for AEHF-5 (USA 292, 44481) listed an orbital period of 914.25 minutes, inclination 9.99 degrees, apogee 35,286 km and perigee 14,365 km.

AEHF-5 was delivered from Lockheed Martin's Sunnyvale, California factory to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station via a C-5 transport aircraft on April 20, 2019.

Lockheed Martin completed 39 days of Thermal Vacuum Chamber testing and subsequent acoustic testing on the AEHF-5 satellite and placed AEHF-5 in system-level testing in preparation for delivery to the U.S. Air Force in 2019.

On June 23, 2019, the AEHF-5 launch was delayed to no earlier than July 9, 2019 due to a vehicle battery failure discovered during final processing.

As of June 5, 2019, AEHF-5 was encapsulated in the United Launch Alliance Atlas V payload fairing at the Astrotech Space Operations processing facility in Florida.

On February 3, 2020, Satellite Control Authority for AEHF-5 was transferred to Space Operations Command, with operational control located at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado.

AEHF-5 carries an IHI Aerospace BT-4 liquid apogee motor and four Aerojet Rocketdyne XR-5 Hall thrusters for orbit raising and stationkeeping.

As of May 17, 2019, ULA hoisted the Atlas V first stage for AEHF-5 aboard the mobile launch platform at the Vertical Integration Facility adjacent to Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

As published in the AEHF-5 mission booklet, the AEHF-5 launch window was 12:27–14:27 UTC (08:27–10:27 a.m. EDT) with payload separation approximately 5 hours and 40 minutes after launch window start (about 18:07 UTC).

On July 11, 2019, the AEHF-5 launch was delayed to no earlier than August 8, 2019 due to an anomaly during component testing at a supplier.

As of August 28, 2019, a later cataloged orbital element set for AEHF-5 (USA 292, 44481) listed an orbital period of 1,164.94 minutes, inclination 8.07 degrees, apogee 35,196 km and perigee 25,396 km.

AEHF-5 had an initial planned launch window opening at 06:00 a.m. EDT on June 27, 2019.

AEHF-5 launched on August 8, 2019 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 551 launch vehicle.

Lockheed Martin was under contract to deliver six AEHF satellites and the Mission Control Segment, with the first three AEHF satellites already on orbit and AEHF-5 and AEHF-6 progressing on schedule as of October 2018.

Lockheed Martin shipped the $1,400,000,000 AEHF-5 satellite from a facility in Sunnyvale, California to Cape Canaveral on a C-5 cargo plane to prepare for a 2019-06-27 launch.

The Air Force’s AEHF-5 communications satellite reached orbit after separating from a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket approximately 5 hours and 40 minutes after liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

The United States Air Force launched the AEHF-5 military communication satellite on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral in August 2019.