ULA Launches Atlas V and USSF-51

United Launch Alliance launched an Atlas V 551 from Space Launch Complex 41 this morning carrying the USSF-51 classified national defense payload for the US Space Force. Liftoff was at 06:45 AM EDT, just as the sun was rising.

Today’s launch was the last national security payload for Atlas V, but the rocket will continue to fly until 2030 when it will loft astronauts aboard Starliner to the ISS. The next Atlas V scheduled to launch will be for Amazon’s Project Kuiper sometime in the fourth quarter of this year, carrying the first of its production satellites to orbit for the company’s planned LEO-based Internet service.

Liftoff was nominal, and the rocket soared to orbit with no apparent issues. Tory Bruno, ULA’s CEO, called the flight “Hot, straight, and normal” six minutes after liftoff, and moments later announced that Atlas V was in orbit. Presumably, pending an announcement of payload deployment, the flight was a success.

Launch Replay

Payload

Today’s payload was a classified national defense asset for the US Space Force. No other information was given.

Remaining Atlas V Launches From Cape Canaveral

Despite some reports in the media, today’s flight was not the last-ever Atlas V launch from Cape Canaveral, instead, it was the final national security mission from the workhorse rocket. The last Atlas V won’t launch until 2030 if the current manifest plays out as planned:

Next Launch

SpaceX will launch another tranche of Starlink satellites overnight on Friday morning.

• Date: NET August 2, 2024
• Organization: SpaceX
• Mission: Starlink 10-6
• Rocket: Falcon 9
• Launch Site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
• Launch Window: 12:19 AM – 05:02 AM EDT
• Payload: Starlink satellites