Mystery Lockheed Martin-built satellite lifts off from Kennedy Space Complex
18 Sep 2014
A mysterious United Launch Alliance Atlas V satellite lifted off from Kennedy Space Complex, on Tuesday night.
United Launch Alliance is a 50-50 venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
Forbes reported the rocket had on board a satellite known only as CLIO, which it delivered into an unidentified (though probably geosynchronous) orbit.
This Lockheed Martin built satellite is based on that company's A2100 Satellite bus, a framework used typically for telecommunications satellites. According to Lockheed, over 40 satellites with the A2100 bus were in orbit currently.
The level of secrecy for this satellite is rather unusual, especially since the US government customer agency for the satellite had not been identified at all.
Even satellites intended for intelligence data gathering are typically identified as being launched on behalf of the National Reconnaissance Office.
Lockheed executive VP, Rick Ambrose said in a statement, ''We are very proud to deliver mission success for our US Government customer. Our A2100 bus provides outstanding reliability, flexibility and proven performance, all at an affordable cost to our customers.''
The next launch for ULA is slated for 29 October, 2014, which would see an Atlas V rocket deliver next generation GPS satellites into orbit on behalf of the Air Force.
Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos yesterday unveiled plans for ''a 21st century'' rocket engine developed by his private aerospace company that could help reduce Russia's role in US orbital flights, The Seattle Times reported.
At a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, Bezos showed off a model of the BE-4, a liquid-propellant engine that would be used to power a new version of the Atlas rockets now used to launch telecommunications and spy satellites and other payloads into space.
The BE-4 would be jointly funded by Bezos' Kent-based Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance. Work on the liquid oxygen, liquefied natural-gas engine had been ongoing for three years in Kent and in West Texas, and it would be under development for four more before the first flight takes off.
The announcement comes following the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) awarding $6.8 billion in separate contracts to Boeing and a second company to build crew capsules for ferrying astronauts to the international space station.
Since the last space shuttle was retired by the US in 2011, the orbiting laboratory had been reachable only aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft launched from Kazakhstan.
