CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launched a weather satellite to orbit Tuesday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on behalf of NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the company said.
The rocket was launched around 4:38 p.m. on Tuesday.
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The GOES-T spacecraft — an acronym for “Geostational Operational Environmental Satellites” — will help NASA and NOAA measure, map and monitor atmospheric conditions in the Western Hemisphere and is the third satellite of NOAA’s GOES-R series, the rest of which were also launched with ULA rockets, the company said.
In light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, ULA Founder and CEO Tory Bruno said on Twitter Friday that while ULA would prefer to have Russian technicians or engineers on retainer to handle certain questions or repairs concerning the Russian-built RD-180 engines used in Atlas V rockets, their help won’t necessarily be needed.
We like to have a retainer in order to ask questions or do repairs, if that were to come up. But, we have a lot of experience and expertise here, so we can do without if neccessary.
— Tory Bruno (@torybruno) February 25, 2022
News 6 will stream the launch live at the top of this story when coverage begins.