Watch the Launch

Additional Media

Jan. 21 Live Broadcast: Atlas V USSF-8

Watch live on Fri., Jan. 21, 2022 as ULA's Atlas V rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station with the U.S. Space Force (USSF) - 8 mission for...

Atlas V USSF-8

A ULA Atlas V 511 rocket will launch the U.S. Space Force (USSF) - 8 mission for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC). USSF-8 will launch two identical Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) satellites—GSSAP-5 and GSSAP-6—directly to a near-geosynchronous orbit appr...

USSF-8

Circle Image

Overview

Destination: Geosynchronous Orbit
Mission: Government/Top Secret

Geosynchronous Orbit Space Launch Complex 41 Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA Probability: 90%

USSF-8 will launch two identical Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) satellites GSSAP-5 and GSSAP-6 directly to a near-geosynchronous orbit approximately 36,000 km above the equator. Data from the GSSAP will uniquely contribute to timely and accurate orbital predictions, further enabling space flight safety including satellite collision avoidance. Unique to this mission is the first and only planned flight of the Atlas V 511 configuration.

Telemetry

Launch trajectory and telemetry simulations provided by Flight Club - a rocket launch simulator and orbital trajectory visualiser for all things space!

Updates

Jay • Jan. 22, 2022, 2:41 a.m.

Launch successful


SwGustav • Jan. 21, 2022, 4:57 p.m.

Updating weather


SwGustav • Jan. 21, 2022, 1:59 p.m.

Updating weather


Nosu • Jan. 20, 2022, 3:13 p.m.

T-0 confirmed by ULA



Atlas V 511

Family:
Configuration: 511

Atlas V is an expendable launch system in the Atlas rocket family. It was formerly operated by Lockheed Martin and is now operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture with Boeing. Each Atlas V rocket uses a Russian-built RD-180 engine burning kerosene and liquid oxygen to power its first stage and an American-built RL10 engine burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to power its Centaur upper stage. The RD-180 engines are provided by RD Amross, while Aerojet Rocketdyne provides both the RL10 engines and the strap-on boosters used in some configurations. The 511 version uses a 5m wide fairing, 1 solid rocket booster and one engine on the Centaur stage.

See Details
Specifications
  • Stages
    2
  • Length
    58.3 m
  • Diameter
    3.81 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    5.4 m
  • Launch Mass
    590.0 T
  • Thrust
    5490.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Atlas V 511
  • Family
  • Variant
    511
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Atlas V 511
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
    $130000000
  • Low Earth Orbit
    10986.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
    5250.0 kg
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity

United Launch Alliance

United Launch Alliance

(ULA)

CEO: Tory Bruno Founded: 2006 Successes: 166 Failures: 0 Pending: 43

Agency Type:

United Launch Alliance (ULA) is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Boeing Defense, Space & Security. ULA was formed in December 2006 by combining the teams at these companies which provide spacecraft launch services to the government of the United States. ULA launches from both coasts of the US. They launch their Atlas V vehicle from LC-41 in Cape Canaveral and LC-3E at Vandeberg. Their Delta IV launches from LC-37 at Cape Canaveral and LC-6 at Vandenberg.

INFO WIKI

Related News

Spaceflight Now

Atlas 5 rocket delivers two military inspector satellites to high-altitude orbit

Two satellites for a once-classified U.S. military program to track and inspect other spacecraft in orbit — a mission the Space Force’s top general equates to a “neighborhood watch” — lifted off from Cape Canaveral Friday on top of a Unite…

Spaceflight Now

ULA’s first launch of 2022 to debut unflown variant of Atlas 5 rocket

United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket has flown in 10 different configurations over 90 missions since 2002, each version optimized to haul satellites of a certain size and mass into space. The only variant of the Atlas 5 rocket yet to fl…

Spaceflight Now

Atlas 5 rocket rolls to launch pad for Space Force mission

Gearing up for its first mission of the year, United Launch Alliance rolled an Atlas 5 rocket to its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Thursday, a day before liftoff with a pair of U.S. Space Force satellites on a flight that will debut a versi…

SpaceNews

ULA launches two space surveillance satellites for U.S. Space Force

In its first mission of 2022, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on Jan. 21 launched a pair of space-monitoring satellites for the U.S. Space Force.

NASA Spaceflight

ULA’s Atlas V launches satellite-inspection mission for Space Force

United Launch Alliance will carry out an Atlas V launch Friday with the third pair of GSSAP satellites for the US Space Force. Flying in its never-before-used 511 configuration, Atlas will lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station a…

Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Space Launch Complex 41


Falcon 9
Success
4 days, 2 hours ago
Starlink Group 10-25
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Falcon 9
Success
4 days, 11 hours ago
MTG-S1
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Second of EUMETSAT's third generation of weather satellite.


New Shepard
Success
6 days, 18 hours ago
NS-33
West Texas Suborbital Launch Site/ Corn Ranch - Corn Ranch, Van Horn, TX, USA

NS-33 is the 13th crewed flight for the New Shepard program and the 33rd in its history.


Falcon 9
Success
1 week ago
Starlink Group 15-7
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 26 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


H-IIA
Success
1 week ago
GOSAT-GW (Ibuki GW)
Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-1 - Tanegashima Space Center, Japan

GOSAT-GW (Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite Greenhouse gases and Water cycle), also known as Ibuki GW and formerly known as GOSAT 3, is JAXA's nex…


Electron
Success
1 week, 1 day ago
Symphony In The Stars
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

'Symphony In The Stars' is the first of two dedicated missions on Electron to deploy a single spacecraft to a 650km circular Earth orbit for a confid…


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 1 day ago
Starlink Group 10-34
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Electron
Success
1 week, 2 days ago
Get The Hawk Outta Here (4x HawkEye 360)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1A - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

HawkEye 360 is a a space-based civil global intelligence satellite network using radio frequency (RF) technology to help monitor transportation acros…


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 3 days ago
Starlink Group 10-16
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 4 days ago
Axiom Space Mission 4
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

This is a Crew Dragon flight for a private company Axiom Space. The mission will carry a professionally trained commander alongside three private ast…