CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Jan. 21 (UPI) -- The communications system for U.S. armed forces got a boost Tuesday night, as another Navy satellite was slung into orbit by United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket.
The rocket successfully launched Tuesday evening from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41, with an approximate blastoff time of 8:04 p.m. EST. Its 5,000-pound payload -- another Mobile User Objective System (MUOS-3) satellite (the third of its kind) -- was positioned into orbit just three hours later.
The launch continues the streak of success enjoyed by ULA, the Lockheed Martin-Boeing joint venture. The outfit has completed several dozen successful missions. The latest iteration of the Atlas rocket is the most powerful yet; on this occasion it was buoyed by five Russian-made engines.
The new satellite will further expand the U.S. military's Mobile User Objective System, empowering soldiers on the ground with a smart phone-like communications network.
"From a warfighter's perspective, for those with MUOS terminals under this expanded territory, they will start having access to MUOS's new capabilities," Iris Bombelyn, vice president of Narrowband Communications for Lockheed Martin, told SpaceFlight Insider. "This IP-based, 3G system will allow them to text, exchange data, and talk (even in group) directly with any other warfighter around the world under the system's coverage."
