United Launch Alliance

Note: I could not attend this launch, as I was traveling to Texas for the solar eclipse. I was accredited press, however, and was able to photograph the rocket on a few occasions prior to its launch on April 9, 2004. Words and photos were originally published by me at Talk of Titusville and are reprinted here by permission.

United Launch Alliance is planning to launch the final launch of Delta IV Heavy on Thursday from SLC-37 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch window extends from 1:40 PM – 6:51 PM EDT. NROL-70 is a mission is set to carry a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, an agency of the United States Department of Defense.

This will be the 16th Delta IV Heavy launch, the 39th orbital launch attempt from SLC-37 and the 941st from Cape Canaveral.

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United Launch Alliance (ULA) launched an Atlas V from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Otober 6, 2023, shortly after 2PM Eastern Time. The rocket was carrying two Amazon subsidiary Kuiper Systems demonstration satellites into orbit. Shortly after 4pm, ULA CEO Tory Bruno announced that the launch was successful, marking ULA’s 158th consecutive successful mission.

According to Dr. Jonathon McDowell of Harvard University’s Center for Astrophysics, the satellites were placed in a roughly 310 by 310 miw (500 x 500 km) circular orbit. McDowell also said that the second stage of the Atlas rocket would be placed in solar orbit for disposal.

This video results from a team effort by the Florida Media Now group, including myself, Richard Gallagher, T.J. Waller, Mark Stone and others. It was edited by me using Final Cut Pro.

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After a scrubbed launch the day due to thunderstorms before, and one delayed this by a persistent storms, winds and a single anvil cloud directly over the launch pad, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 7:15 p.m. EDT (2315 GMT), carrying two experimental satellites for the U.S. Space Force. Here’s a short sequence of the launch sequence that I made.

This video was made from the LC-39 gantry at Kennedy Space Center. At only 2.3 miles from the launch pad itself, the Gantry offers the best views of a launch that the public can get access to, and the sound from the rocket there is tremendously loud — all in all, it’s an exciting place to be for a rocket launch. This is a very representative view of what ticket holders there see with their own eyes.

I recommend clicking through and watching full-screen in YouTube in 4K or HD.

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