A rare sight is coming to the Space Coast on Tuesday morning. The 196-foot-tall Atlas V rocket will blast off from the launch pad The mission of a secret space force.
There has been only one Atlas V launch this year, and that was for a Boeing Starliner crew flight test.
Launching at 6:45 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, July 30, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will carry the United States Space Force USSF-51 mission from Launch Complex-41 south of Kennedy Space Center.
As of Friday morning, the weather forecast for Tuesday’s launch was favorable, with only a 20% chance of conditions preventing the launch.
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When liftoff occurs, the rocket’s five solid rocket boosters — mounted around the central rocket — initially push it off the launch pad and help it on its way. This extra power creates a brighter display.
In its final flights before retirement, this workhorse rocket flies its final national security payload mission. Marking the 58th launch of an Atlas V for national security, the USSF-51 mission will carry a top-secret payload for the US Space Force Systems Command. As the mission is for national security, there are no details about the payload or destination.
However, USSF-51 marks the 100th mission overall for which United Launch Alliance has provided launch services across its fleet of rockets — a number that is slated to grow once the company begins flying its Vulcan rocket. The Vulcan rocket will replace both the Atlas V and the now-retired Delta IV.
Workhorse Atlas V is getting a mission patch for the milestone mission
Keeping true to the tradition of using animals as symbols for these secret missions, this mission patch features a blue outline of a horse behind an Atlas V rocket. The design is set against a star background.
This design is featured on the payload fairings – which protect and hide the payload on top of the rocket – and the mission patch.
Be sure to follow the Florida Today Space Team for the latest from Cape Canaveral.
Brooke Edwards is a space reporter for Florida Today. Contact her [email protected] or in X: @brookofstars.
