The Navy successfully launched its second Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) communications satellite Friday morning at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., aboard one of United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Atlas V heavy lift launch vehicles, according to a company statement.
MUOS is a next-generation narrowband tactical satellite communications system designed to significantly improve beyond line-of-sight communications for United States forces on the move. MUOS will provide military users 10 times more communications capacity over the existing system by leveraging 3G mobile communications technology and will also provide simultaneous voice and data capability.
Navy spokesman Steven Davis said July 19 that the service started acquiring a signal from MUOS-2 around noon EST.
“Everything is operating according to plan,” Davis said from Cape Canaveral.
The launch was ULA’s sixth launch this year out of 12 scheduled and the 72nd mission since the company’s formation in 2006. ULA Vice President for Atlas and Delta Programs Jim Sponnick said Friday in a statement that, at 15,000 pounds, MUOS-2 is the heaviest satellite launched to date by an Atlas rocket.
The launch was also powered by the RD-180 engine that Orbital Sciences [ORB] wants to access. Orbital in June filed suit against ULA and RD-180 manufacturer RD AMROSS, a joint venture between United Technologies Corp.’s [UTX] former Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne unit and Russian engine manufacturer NPO Energomash, over an alleged anti-competitive exclusivity agreement to prevent Orbital from acquiring the RD-180. Orbital said the RD-180 is the only rocket engine in the world that can help it compete in the medium-lift launch market for the long term.
The first MUOS satellite, launched in February 2012, was accepted for operational use by U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) in November, according to a Navy statement.
ULA is a joint venture between Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Boeing [BA].