ULA Atlas 5 orbits NRO satellites from Vandenberg with GRACE

Second Atlas 5 rocket launched in span of six days | Spaceflight Now



Atlas V Launches NROL-55, CubeSats - United Launch Alliance
03-15 National Reconnaissance Office NROL-55.pdf
NROL-55 takes a ride uphill on ULA Atlas V | NASASpaceFlight.com
Making its second flight in less than a week, United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket has successfully deployed a National Reconnaissance Office primary payload (NROL-55) – and a host of smaller satellites – Thursday following a pre-dawn liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Liftoff was on schedule at 05:49 Pacific Daylight Time (12:49 UTC).

Thursday’s launch used the Extended Payload Fairing which has previously been used for Intruder launches – while Quasar has used the Large Payload Fairing. This points towards NROL-55 carrying an Intruder payload – which is supported by similarities between the hazard areas for Thursday’s launch and the last Intruder launch in 2012, NROL-36.
The Naval Ocean Surveillance System (NOSS) is a signals intelligence (SIGINT) program which uses satellites to triangulate the position of ships at sea from their radio transmissions. For this purpose NOSS spacecraft were originally launched in groups of three; first-generation spacecraft were launched on Atlas E/F and H rockets, with the second-generation constellation being deployed by the larger Titan IV.

Launch Updates - Analytical Graphics, Inc.
	New Launch: 2015 October 8, 1249 UTC Site: Air Force Eastern Test Range, Florida, USA Launcher: Atlas V International Designator(s): 2015-058A, 2015-058B, 2015-058C, 2015-058D, 2015-058E, 2015-058F, 2015-058G, 2015-058H, 2015-058J, 2015-058K, 2015-058L, 2015-058M, 2015-058N, 2015-058P SSC Name Owner 40964 USA 264 US 40965 AEROCUBE 5C US 40966 AEROCUBE 7 US 40967 FOX-1 US 40968 BISONSAT US 40969 ARC-1 US 40970 SNAP-3 ALICE US 40971 LMRST-SAT US 40972 SNAP-3 EDDIE US 40973 PROPCUBE 3 US 40974 SINOD-D 1 US 40975 SNAP-3 JIMI US 40976 PROPCUBE 1 US 40977 SINOD-D 3 US "Churning out the launches at a rapid pace, the Atlas 5 program sent another rocket soaring like clockwork today for deployment of a national security satellite duo from California. "The launch customer this morning was the National Reconnaissance Office, which called the classified flight simply NROL-55. The NASA Optical Communication and Sensor ... "Hitching a ride as a secondary payload aboard the Atlas rocket was a batch of Cubesats collectively known as the Government Rideshare Advanced Concepts Experiments, or GRACE mission. Nine are sponsored by the NRO and four are sponsored by NASA. The assembled GRACE is shown along with members of the GRACE team consisting of NPS, Office of Space Launch (OSL), Tyvak, SRI, and Cal Poly, SLO. The Cubesats are integrated into 8 P-POD deployers which are contained in the NPSCuL built by the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS). The NPSCuL together with the 8 P-PODs and 13 CubeSats is referred to as the Government Rideshare Advanced Concepts Experiment (GRACE), and is attached to the Centaur upper stage's Aft Bulkhead Carrier (ABC). "They were shot out of deployer boxes mounted next to the Centaur upper stage's RL10C-1 engine." "NRO-sponsored Cubesats "*AeroCube-5c and AeroCube-7—technology pathfinders from Aerospace Corp. that weigh 1.5 kilograms each and will demonstrate tracking technologies, optical communications and laser communication. "*SNaP-3—A total of three CubeSats, weighing 4.5 kilogram each, from the Army's Space and Missile Defense Center, whose mission is to develop user software-defined radios to provide beyond-line-of-sight communication for disadvantaged users in remote locations. "*PropCube—Two 1-kilogram CubeSat from Tyvak performing dual frequency ionospheric calibration measurements. "*SINOD-D—Two 2-kilogram CubeSats from SRI International demonstrating software defined radio communications. "NASA-sponsored Cubesats: "*ARC-1 (Alaska Research CubeSat 1)—1-kilogram CubeSat developed by the University of Alaska-Fairbanks whose mission is to measure thermal and vibration environment during launch, and increase the Technology Readiness Level on both their attitude control and determination system, as well as, the high bandwidth communication system. "*BisonSat—1-kilogram CubeSat from Salish Kootenai College whose mission is to train students on the design, construction, test, and operation of space hardware by using a specially designed light camera to calculate and test land cover classification, cloud cover, and cloud height measurements. "*AMSAT Fox-1—1-kilogram CubeSat features an amateur radio FM voice repeater that will provide easy portable satellite communications opportunities for amateur radio operators worldwide. The satellite will also test a MEMS Gyro and a low energy proton experiment. "*LMRST-Sat (Low Mass Radio Science Transponder – Satellite)—3-kilogram CubeSat from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory which will demonstrate the Low Mass Radio Transponder in earth orbit to raise its Technology Readiness Level."

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