Atlas V, missile warning satellite blast off from Cape Canaveral

James Dean
Florida Today

An Atlas V rocket sent a $1.2 billion missile warning satellite into orbit Friday night, hours before a budget impasse threatened to shut down the federal government.

The 19-story United Launch Alliance rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on its second attempt at 7:48 p.m., climbing into a star-speckled sky with more than 1 million pounds of thrust from a main engine and single solid rocket motor.

About 42 minutes later, the rocket deployed a 10,000-pound addition to an Air Force constellation that serves as a “bell-ringer” warning of ballistic missile launches around the globe, potentially including nuclear threats.

"In today’s global security environment, the number of threats to America and its allies is greater than ever," said Capt. Krystin Cooper of the Remote Sensing Systems Directorate at the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles. "And as threats evolve and change, the reliable and accurate detection of missile launches world-wide is critical to the defense and security of our nation."

As seen from Cocoa Beach: A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket blasts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with a missile detection satellite on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018.

[Launch schedule: Upcoming Florida rocket launches and landings]

[SpaceX Falcon Heavy status updates: Targeting Saturday for test fire at KSC]

Friday night’s mission launched the fourth member of the Space Based Infrared System, or SBIRS, bound for a geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles over the equator.

The Lockheed Martin-built satellite completes the system's baseline constellation, giving it global coverage. Two more satellites are expected to launch in 2021 and 2022.

The mission was ULA’s second of the year and second in a week, following a Jan. 12 flight from California. It was the 75th launch by an Atlas V rocket.

The Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture is preparing another Atlas V for a March 1 liftoff from Cape Canaveral with a next-generation weather satellite for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com. And follow on Twitter at @flatoday_jdean and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SpaceTeamGo.