UNITED LAUNCH ALLIANCE

Watch live as ULA's Atlas V rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral with the AEHF-6 mission for the U.S. Space Force Space and Missile Systems Center.

United Launch Alliance will use an Atlas V 551 rocket to launch the sixth and final spacecraft in the Lockheed Martin-built Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) series for the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center. AEHF satellites provide global, survivable, protected communications capabilities for strategic command and tactical warfighters operating on ground, sea and air platforms. Atlas V rockets successfully launched the first five AEHF satellites between 2010 and 2019.

United Launch Alliance engineers and technicians recently completed a successful pathfinder exercise to assess procedures and operations in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in preparation for the first Vulcan Centaur launch in 2021. The pathfinder used a mass simulator built specifically to mimic the mass of Vulcan Centaur's core stage, as well as an outer diameter of 17.7 feet. The simulator was transported from the Port Canaveral wharf, where the R/S RocketShip will deliver Vulcan Centaur rockets, to ULA facilities for processing. The highlight of the rehearsal was hoisting the simulator at the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) to verify the tools and techniques that will be employed next year for the next-generation rocket's maiden launch campaign. Learn more: https://www.ulalaunch.com/explore/blog-detail/blog/2020/02/20/vulcan-centaur-pathfinder-validates-launch-site-processes

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 411 configuration rocket launched the Solar Orbiter spacecraft on its journey to study the sun for the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA on Feb. 9, 2020 at 11:03 p.m. EST. The spacecraft will make looping orbits around the sun and use 10 instruments to observe solar physics in unprecedented detail. At closest approach, Solar Orbiter will be about approximately 26 million miles (42 million km) from the sun. Solar Orbiter is an international cooperative mission between ESA and NASA. ESA's Engineering & Test Center (ESTEC) in The Netherlands is managing the development effort. Airbus developed the spacecraft. The European Space Operations Center (ESOC) in Germany will operate Solar Orbiter after launch.

Meet Lisa Turner, a senior engineer on the flight design team at United Launch Alliance who crafts the trajectories for Atlas and Delta rocket launches from both Cape Canaveral, Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Solar Orbiter is Turner's eighth mission as the engineer responsible for leading the trajectory design, but it is her first NASA mission.

At ULA we are passionate and committed to returning astronauts to space from U.S. soil. We are proud to be entrusted with such an important mission. We are excited to support Boeing and NASA, focused on the safety of our astronauts, and honored to inspire generations of rocket scientists and space enthusiasts. ULA is Go for Launch!

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying Boeing's Starliner lifts off from Space Launch Complex-41 at 6:36 a.m. ET on Dec. 20, 2019.

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket will deliver the Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft to a 98 nautical mile (nmi) sub-orbital trajectory on its Orbital Flight Test (OFT) to the International Space Station.

The Atlas V first stage is hoisted aboard the Mobile Launch Platform (MLP) at the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) to begin preparations to launch the Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft on its Orbital Flight Test for NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

The Atlas V first stage is hoisted aboard the Mobile Launch Platform (MLP) at the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) to begin preparations to launch the Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft on its Orbital Flight Test for NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

A timelapse of the mast mate to the Vulcan Centaur Mobile Launch Platform (MLP). This MLP was designed and built to transport the Vulcan Centaur between the Spaceflight Processing Operations Center (SPOC), the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) and to the launch pad at SLC-41.

On September 27, ULA welcomed R/S RocketShip to the family. President and CEO Tory Bruno joined other ULA leaders in Decatur, AL to officially rename the cargo vessel that carries fight hardware from the factory to launch sites. ULA held the ceremony to honor maritime tradition.

On July 20, 2019, ULA, Ball Aerospace and K-12 teams from around the country celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing with a rocket launch from Fort Carson Army Post, outside of Colorado Springs, CO.