Atlas II AC 109 launches despite uncooperative acts by Mother Nature

Astro News Feb. 13, 1998

Howard Antelis
Public Affairs Office

While most Americans watched the 1998 Super Bowl, the Atlas launch team was hard at work ensuring the first Air Force rocket launch of the year from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla., went off without a hitch. Much like the victorious Denver Broncos, the team ultimately achieved its goal, overcoming a multitude of obstacles that threatened the success of the scheduled Jan. 26 mission.
Despite a three-day delay, the Atlas team members, entrusted with the mission, eventually saw their efforts pay off handsomely when Atlas II AC 109 with a Centaur upper stage smoothly hoisted a National Reconnaissance Office spacecraft into space Jan. 29 at 1:37 p.m. EST from Launch Complex 36A at CCAS. Approximately 70 minutes later, the satellite, nicknamed “Capricorn,” separated from the rocket and was placed by the upper stage into a virtually perfect orbit, keeping intact the Atlas II launch vehicle family’s perfect record of mission success.
The original launch attempt was scrubbed when thick high-level clouds kept the range “red” throughout the launch window, 1st Lt. Jan Niemiec, launch integrator for the Space and Missile Systems Center’s Launch Programs Office, said . A prior range commitment on Jan. 27 precluded a launch attempt on that day. A Jan. 28 attempt was also deferred prior to cryogenic tanking of the launch vehicle because of strong upper-level atmospheric winds, he said.
Senior launch team officials decided at that time to make another attempt on Jan. 29, when weather experts forecasted that conditions would be more conducive to a launch attempt. Their predictions proved to be correct, although a change in upper atmospheric wind direction required the launch team to input a new steering program before proceeding with the launch, Niemiec said.
“The whole sequence of events connected with this launch was very dramatic and exciting,” Niemiec said, who has worked on the engineering side of the Atlas program for two years before his “maiden” flight as launch integrator for this mission. “Having been directly involved in putting this mission together for almost a year, the experience of seeing AC 109 actually lift off represented the ultimate in job satisfaction for me.”
The Atlas IIA is capable of lifting payloads up to 6,760 pounds to geosynchronous transfer orbit. This series uses the improved Centaur upper stage, the world’s first high-energy propellant stage, to increase its payload capability. The Atlas II series also has lower-cost electronics, an improved flight computer and longer propellant tanks than its predecessor, Atlas I, which was originally developed for commercial users in the late 1980s.
Both the Atlas IIA rocket and Centaur upper stage are built for SMC’s Launch Programs Office by Lockheed Martin Astronautics in Denver, Colo., with customer interface and launch vehicle mission management provided by International Launch Services in San Diego, Calif.
The Atlas launch team also includes the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, Calif., which provides engineering and technical support for Air Force spacelift missions; and the 45th Space Wing and 3rd Space Launch Squadron at Patrick AFB, Fla., which manage Atlas missions originating out of CCAS.
Atlas Program Manager Lt. Col. John Wagner lauded the extra effort, patience and camaraderie demonstrated by members of the launch team as they contended with mission delays totally beyond their control. “Although you tend to expect inclement weather at the Space Coast during this time of year, it is still frustrating when you experience delays after spending months of hard work and preparation making sure the rocket and payload are in perfect health,” he said. “But you tend to forget about all those things when you see the candle light, and find out soon after that you ‘hit the bulls-eye’.”
The Atlas II family of launchers, including the Atlas IIA, delivers DSCS and other NRO payloads to orbit. To date, seven Atlas II Launch Programs missions have flown with two more planned on the current contract with Lockheed Martin Astronautics. In addition, four Atlas IIAS vehicles have been acquired to carry NRO payloads. The Atlas IIAS differs from the Atlas IIA in that it features four Thiokol Castor IVA strap-on solid rocket boosters.
The Atlas IIA is a modification of the Atlas G launch vehicle. The length of the Atlas IIA has been stretched nine feet from the Atlas G configuration to provide more propellant capacity. Atlas Propulsion is provided by a Rocketdyne liquid rocket engine set which consists of two booster engines and one sustainer engine. All three engines provide 494,500 pounds of thrust. Centaur propulsion is furnished by a Pratt and Whitney liquid rocket engine set consisting of two engines that provide 41,000 pounds of thrust.
Launch Program’s Atlas Division is currently engaged in several projects, said Launch Programs Director Col. Jeff Norton. Among them are the contract management for the Atlas IIAS new vehicle buy valued at over $1.1 billion; refining a contract extension valued at over $100 million; managing launch concerns for the Service Life Extension Program affecting DSCS III missions; and providing launch service management for the DSCS 7 and 8 missions through the year 2000. The organization is also partnering with the NRO on procurement of a “commercial launch service” for a Medium Launch Vehicle-class mission.
The next scheduled military mission for the Atlas program will put a Defense Satellite Communications System III spacecraft aloft in from Cape Cananveral in August 1999.