Alabama’s ULA preps to launch first national security mission for U.S. Space Force

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March 25, 2020

United Launch Alliance (ULA) is set to power the first national security space mission for the newly-formed U.S. Space Force.

ULA is making final preparations to launch the sixth Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) communications satellite for the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center, according to a release from the company. The launch is scheduled to take place Thursday at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

#AEHF6 has rolled to the pad (at blistering 3mph or so) and is hard down. On track for tomorrow’s trip to space for the @SpaceForceDoD ‘s first mission.

— Tory Bruno (@torybruno) March 25, 2020

“In the current dynamic environment, national security is of utmost importance,” said Gary Wentz, ULA vice president of Government and Commercial Programs. “We are proud to launch the first National Security Space mission for the U.S. Space Force and look forward to delivering the final AEHF asset to support our nation’s national defense and the warfighter community.”

ULA will utilize an Atlas V 551 configuration rocket which is the most powerful in the Atlas V fleet. Built at ULA’s factory in Decatur, it will produce more than 2.5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.

The AEHF system, developed by Lockheed Martin, provides vastly improved global, survivable, protected communications capabilities for strategic command and tactical warfighters.

Watch a brief video showing the details of the mission: