50th Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle mission

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) lifted off from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. at 8:28 a.m. EDT today (June 20). Designated NROL-38, the mission is in support of national defense.

"Congratulations to the NRO and to all the mission partners involved in this critical national security launch," said Jim Sponnick, ULA vice president, Mission Operations. "This launch marks an important milestone as we celebrate the 50th successful Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) mission, with 31 Atlas V and 19 Delta IV missions flown since August 2002."

Credit ULA/Pat Corkery

NROL-38 is the first of three critical missions ULA is scheduled to launch for the NRO within the next two months.

"Twelve of the 50 EELV launches have been NRO missions and these have been vital to our overall mission of delivering on commitments critical to our national security," Bruce Carlson, director, National Reconnaissance Office, said. "I thank and congratulate ULA and the EELV program for the tremendous performance and achievement of this very impressive and noteworthy milestone."

This mission was launched on an Atlas V EELV 401 configuration vehicle, which includes a 4-meter diameter payload fairing. The Atlas booster for this mission was powered by the RD AMROSS RD-180 engine and the Centaur upper stage was powered by a single Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RL10A-4 engine.

Credit ULA/Pat Corkery

Developed by the United States Air Force to provide assured access to space for Department of Defense and other government payloads, the commercially developed EELV Program supports the full range of government mission requirements, while delivering on schedule and providing significant cost savings over the heritage launch systems.

ULA's next launch is the Delta IV NROL-15 mission for the NRO scheduled for June 28 from Space Launch Complex-37 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

United Launch Alliance program management, engineering, test, and mission support functions are headquartered in Denver, Colo. Manufacturing, assembly and integration operations are located at Decatur, Ala., and Harlingen, Texas. Launch operations are located at the Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., and Vandenberg AFB, Calif.