A National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) payload has been scheduled for liftoff at 9:50 a.m. local time (1750 GMT) on Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in the US state of California, the Department of Defense announced in a press release. The satellite will be the fifth NRO payload launched by a Atlas V.

"We are postured for another successful Atlas launch," US Air Force 30th Space Wing Commander Colonel Christopher Moss said in the release on Monday. "These missions are critical, and our team is excited to be a part of something that will have a global impact."

Details of the payload are classified but the NRO is the military agency responsible for US spy satellites.

The United States has used the Atlas two-stage rocket for more than four decades. The first stage of the latest model, the Atlas V, is powered by a Russian-made RD 180 engine.

Source: Sputnik News

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Atlas V to launch classified US payload March 1
Washington DC (Sputnik) Feb 14, 2017
The launch of a top-secret US government payload atop an Atlas V rocket has been scheduled for March 1, the United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced in a press release. "NROL-79 will mark the 70th Atlas V launch and the 35th in the 401 configuration since the rocket's inaugural mission in 2002," the release stated. NROL refers to launches by the National Reconnaissance Office, a US int ... read more

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