Atlas 5 Lofts U.S. Navy's First MUOS Satellite into Orbit

摘要

The U.S. Navy successfully launched the first Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) communications satellite Feb. 24 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., aboard an Adas 5 rocket. After a week of weather-related delays, MUOS-1 finally lifted off from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 41 at 5:15 p.m. EDT and reached geosynchronous transfer orbit a few hours later. The satellite will use its on-board propulsion to climb to its geosynchronous perch some 36,000 kilometers above the equator. Steve Tatum, a spokesman for MUOS prime contractor Lockheed Martin Space Systems, said Feb. 27 that MUOS-1 is expected to reach geosynchronous orbit on or about March 5.