U.S. Air Force boasts 50th successful launch (Forwarded)

Air Force Space Command Public Affairs

3/12/2007

Air Force boasts 50th successful launch

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- The Air Force marked its 50th consecutive
successful launch March 8 with an Atlas V loaded with six experimental
satellites.

Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., successfully
launched the rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., with the
45th Space Wing spacelift team.

The mission integration and subsequent launch was a collaborative effort on
the part of the Air Force, the Aerospace Corporation, the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency, the Department of Energy, the U.S. Air Force
Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy, the United Launch Alliance and contractors
including the Boeing Company, Ball Aerospace, and AeroAstro.

The firsts on this mission include:

* The first launch of an Air Force payload on an Atlas V;
* The first flight of an EELV Secondary Payload Adaptor;
* The first Air Force mission with six unique spacecraft;
* The first dedicated EELV mission for the Department of Defense Space Test
Program; and
* The first Atlas V mission to carry multiple satellites to two distinctly
different low-Earth orbits.

"I am just overwhelmed and ecstatic by the results of last night's launch,"
said Lt. Col. Carol Welsch, director of the DoD Space Test Program and Space
Development Group, SMC. "The separation systems on the ESPA ring worked
flawlessly allowing the satellites to deploy nominally. I don't believe the
flight to the designated mission orbits could have gone any better than it
did."

This was the ninth launch of the Atlas V rocket that plays an important role
in assured access to space.

"I congratulate the members of the Space Test Program, DARPA, and United
Launch Alliance team on their successful mission accomplishment last
evening," said Col. Samuel Greaves, STP-1 mission director. I am proud to be
a part of the success of this mission and I look forward to supporting
future launches that show the same degree of dedication to mission success.
Well done!"

"This is an exciting and historic day for the Air Force and our
government/industry EELV launch team," said Col. David Thompson, commander
of the 45th Operations Group and spacelift commander for this mission. "This
is our ninth straight successful Atlas V launch. It helps mark the 60th
anniversary of the U.S. Air Force because it's another chapter in the long
Atlas heritage that began back in the 1950s when the Air Force initially
developed the Atlas as an intercontinental ballistic missile."

The individual spacecraft launched on the Atlas V we

* NextSat and ASTRO for the Defense Advanced Projects Agency: These
satellites are part of a program called Orbital Express. They will spend the
next three months in orbit, demonstrating for the first time fully
autonomous rendezvous and capture of client spacecraft,
satellite-to-satellite refueling, and replacement of battery and
flight-computer orbital replacement units. The technologies developed by
DARPA's Orbital Express program are intended to support a broad range of
future U.S. national security, civil and commercial space activities.

* STPSat-1 for the Space Test Program: This microsatellite was built to
specifically exploit the new ESPA multi-mission launch capability. It
supports STP's mission to provide reliable access to space for DoD-sponsored
experiments;

* CFESat for the Los Alamos National Laboratory: The Cibola Flight
Experiment is a technology pathfinder project for the National Nuclear
Security Administration's Office of Research and Development. It is flying
eight new technologies for space flight validation;

* MidSTAR for the U.S. Naval Academy: It is a general-purpose satellite bus
carrying four experiments; and

* FalconSat-3 for the U.S. Air Force Academy: It is a general purpose
satellite bus carrying three experiments.

Air Force Academy Cadet 1st Class Robbie Bethancourt helped build
FalconSat-3. He was here for the launch and said, "It's absolutely amazing.
This is the first launch I've ever seen, and it's my launch."

(Information courtesy of Joe Davidson, Space and Missile Systems Center
Public Affairs, and Ken Warren, 45th Space Wing Public Affairs)

IMAGE CAPTION:
[http://www.afspc.af.mil/shared/media...-9999Z-001.jpg
(402KB)]
Six satellites were launched into orbit on board a single Atlas V Evolved
Expendable Launch Vehicle March 8. This marks the 50th consecutive
successful launch by the Air Force since May 1999. (photo byPat
Cokery/United Launch Alliance)