Une fusée Atlas V lance un satellite d'alerte aux missiles pour l'US Space Force

Video from the channel VideoFromSpace about Atlas (familia), linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 8:46. Language: English. Video type: Launch.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off on the USSF-12 mission for the United States Space Force. The payload includes the Wide Field of View experimental missile warning satellite.

The video follows launch control's commentary from the countdown. After liftoff, the rocket completes the pitch maneuver and the RD-180 engine throttles down. The vehicle passes Mach 1 at 36 seconds and maximum dynamic pressure at 49. The four solid rocket boosters burn out and separate. Midway through the boost phase, the rocket weighs half what it did at liftoff. Shortly after, it is flying at 50 miles altitude, 78 miles downrange and 5,000 miles per hour. Payload fairing separation follows, along with RD-180 shutdown, stage separation and ignition of the Centaur stage's RL10 engine. That first burn lasts about 6 minutes and 18 seconds.

Launch control confirms the initial phase of flight was completed without incident. The piece includes comments from Colonel Heather Bogstie of Space Systems Command. She explains that Wide Field of View carries a 4K by 4K focal plane that covers more than 3,000 kilometers at once. It also carries a tactical cryocooler derived from airborne applications. Its data will help define a future missile warning architecture in medium and low orbits.