Ramona Adams
United Launch Alliance has launched a national security payload into space Thursday as part of the National Reconnaissance Office‘s NROL-61 mission.
The Boeing and Lockheed Martin joint venture said Thursday it launched the NROL-61 payload aboard the company-built Atlas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The Atlas V EELV 421 configuration was built to feature an RD AMROSS RD-180 engine-powered booster as well as a Centaur upper stage powered by Aerojet Rocketdyne‘s RL10C-1 engine, ULA added.
The deployment is ULA’s sixth launch in 2016, which will be followed by the launch of the U.S. Air Force‘s AFSPC-6 satellite aboard a Delta IV EELV on Aug. 19, ULA noted.
The Air Force formed the commercially-developed EELV program to provide space access for Defense Department and government payloads.
