United Launch Alliance (ULA) on Wednesday successfully lofted a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) aboard an Atlas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle from Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
The NROL-79 mission is in support of national defense, ULA said. ULA is a joint venture of Boeing [BA] and Lockheed Martin [LMT].
The payload was launched at 9:50 a.m. PST aboard an Atlas V EELV 401 configuration vehicle, which includes a 4-meter diameter extended payload fairing. ULA said the Atlas booster for the mission was powered by an RD AMROSS RD-180 engine, and the Centaur upper stage was powered by the Aerojet Rocketdyne [ARJD] RL10C-1 engine. RD AMROSS is a joint venture consisting of United Technologies’ [UTX] Pratt & Whitney division and Russia’s NPO Energomash.
The launch was the second this year for ULA.
ULA’s next launch is slated for March 8. The company will launch a Delta IV WGS-9 satellite for the U.S. Air Force from Space Launch Complex-37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.