US launches Atlas V rocket powered by Russian RD-180 engine
US-based United Launch Alliance has launched an Atlas V launch vehicle carrying the SBIRS GEO 6 military satellite for the US Space Force, according to the company's website.
“The Atlas V 421 rocket will launch the sixth and final space-based infrared system (SBIRS GEO 6) spacecraft for the US Space Forces Space Systems Command (SSC) into geosynchronous low-Earth orbit”, — the message says.
The SBIRS system is designed to detect early ballistic missile launches, determine their flight trajectory and coordinates for possible interception.
The missile launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Center in Florida at 06:00: 29 local time (13:29 Moscow time). Its first stage is equipped with the Russian RD-180 engine developed by NPO Energomash.
Recall that on August 9, the Russian Soyuz will launch the Iranian Khayyam Earth remote sensing satellite into orbit from the Baikonur cosmodrome.
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