United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) new red and white Vulcan Centaur rocket roared into space on its first mission for the U.S. Space Force and the Department of Defense (DOD) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 41 in Florida on Aug. 12.
Dubbed USSF-106, the mission is part of the Space Systems Command’s National Security Space Launch Program. Two national security satellites were sent into geosynchronous orbit 22,000 miles above the earth. ULA said it was one of its longest launches ever, taking more than seven hours to put its payloads in the correct position.
The payload includes demonstrations and experiments from DOD customers, in addition to the Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3) tasked with testing technologies designed to protect against threats that try to jam GPS-type data, which is critical for national security….