An Atlas V with a 4 meter diameter fairing, no boosters and a single centaur upper stage engine.
United Launch Alliance (ULA) is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Boeing Defense, Space & Security. ULA was formed in December 2006 by combining the teams at these companies which provide spacecraft launch services to the government of the United States. ULA launches from both coasts of the US. They launch their Atlas V vehicle from LC-41 in Cape Canaveral and LC-3E at Vandeberg. Their Delta IV launches from LC-37 at Cape Canaveral and LC-6 at Vandenberg.
JPSS is a collaborative program between NOAA and NASA. JPSS-2 is one of five satellites that will comprise the JPSS constellation. These spacecraft gather global measurements of atmospheric, terrestrial and oceanic conditions, including sea and land surface temperatures, vegetation, clouds, rainfall, snow and ice cover, fire locations and smoke plumes, atmospheric temperature, water vapor and ozone. LOFTID is a tech demo for the inflatable heatshield technology. It will attempt to survive a reentry from orbit after JPSS 2 is separated. This test will validate the technology for various applications, such as landing large payloads on Mars and engine reuse on ULA’s Vulcan rocket.
Sun-Synchronous OrbitLucy is the first mission to explore and study Trojan asteroids. The Trojans are a type of asteroids that orbit the Sun in two groups, in front of and behind Jupiter in its orbit around our star. Since these asteroids have been in such stable orbits for billions of years, they are of great interest as remnants of early Solar System. Lucy is a NASA mission led by NASA Goddard and Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. Over the course of 12 years, Lucy will fly by seven different Trojan asteroids and also one main belt asteroid. The complex trajectory to visit all targets will include several Earth gravity assists.
Heliocentric N/ALandsat 9 is a partnership between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey to continue the Landsat program's critical role in monitoring, understanding and managing the land resources needed to sustain human life. Landsat 9, like Landsat 8, has a higher imaging capacity than past Landsats, allowing more valuable data to be added to the Landsat global land archive. Its operational orbit is a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 705 km for a mission lifetime of at least 5 years.
Sun-Synchronous OrbitInSight is a robotic Mars lander designed to study the interior and subsurface of Mars, which would in turn help scientists to understand the Earth and Solar System history. Two 6U CubeSats will piggyback with the InSight mission to help relay communications during the probe's entry, descent, and landing (EDL) phase.
Heliocentric N/A #InSightThis is the eighth planned flight of the Orbital ATK's unmanned resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its seventh flight to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. Orbital ATK named the vehicle after astronaut John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth and pioneer of human spaceflight.
Low Earth OrbitWorldView-4 is a commercial Earth observation satellite to be launched into sun-synchronous orbit. It is operated by DigitalGlobe, which provides imagery for customers such as NASA and Google Earth/Maps. Satellite is to deliver high-quality imagery, with a resolution of up to 31 cm in panchromatic mode, and a resolution of 1.24 m in multispectral mode. To be launched along with the satellite are 7 cubesats. These are tasked with testing various technologies, from data relay and radiation study to a new ion propulsion system.
Sun-Synchronous OrbitThis is the sixth flight of Orbital ATK's unmanned resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its fifth flight to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. Orbital ATK named the vehicle after astronaut Rick Husband who was the commander of STS-107.
Low Earth OrbitThis is the 4th mission under NASA's Commercial Resupply Service agreement with Orbital ATK. The unmanned Cygnus cargo vessel delievered approximately 3,500 kg (7,700 lbs.) of supplies and science experiments to the International Space Station. The craft features a longer, enhanced cargo module and remained berthed to the station for 2 months.
Low Earth OrbitLandsat 8 is an American Earth observation satellite launched on 11 February 2013. It is the eighth satellite in the Landsat program; the seventh to reach orbit successfully. Originally called the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), it is a collaboration between NASA and the United States Geological Survey (USGS). NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provided development, mission systems engineering, and acquisition of the launch vehicle while the USGS provided for development of the ground systems and will conduct on-going mission operations. It comprises the camera of the Operational Land Imager (OLI) and the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), which can be used to study Earth surface temperature and is used to study global warming.
Sun-Synchronous OrbitTDRS-11, known before launch as TDRS-K, is an American communications satellite which is operated by NASA as part of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System, which provides a multitude of communications services to a wide variety of missions.
Geostationary Transfer OrbitThe Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is a NASA mission which is observing the Sun. SDO is a three-axis stabilized spacecraft, with two solar arrays, and two high-gain antennas, in an inclined geosynchronous orbit around Earth.
Enhanced Geostationary Transfer OrbitLRO is the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA. Used to map the moon to identify safe landing sites, locating potential resources, characterizing the radiation environment and demonstrating new technologies. The LCROSS is the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, also for NASA. A low cost satellite in order to confirm the existance of water in the southern lunar crater, Cabeus.
Lunar OrbitMars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is a spacecraft designed to study the geology and climate of Mars, provide reconnaissance of future landing sites, and relay data from surface missions back to Earth. It was launched on August 12, 2005 and reached Mars on March 10, 2006. In November 2006, after five months of aerobraking, it entered its final science orbit and began its primary science phase.
Mars OrbitEutelsat 8 West C, known as Hot Bird 6 prior to 2012 and Hot Bird 13A from 2012 to 2013, is a French communications satellite. Operated by Eutelsat, it provides direct to home broadcasting services from geostationary orbit.
Geostationary Transfer Orbit