
ULA launches two new Space Force tracking satellites into orbit
ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 21 (UPI) -- United Launch Alliance sent two space tracking satellites into orbit for the U.S. Space Force from Florida on Friday afternoon. The Atlas V rocket lifted off as planned at 2 p.m. EST into a mostly cloudy sky from Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station near Kennedy Space Center. The single solid rocket booster strapped to the rocket also ignited, contributing to the rocket's fiery plume. The satellites, GSSAP-5 and GSSAP-6, are to join four similar spacecraft in a high orbit around the Earth. They are designed to track manmade objects, or other spacecraft, in orbit. Two minutes after liftoff, ULA launch commentator Patrick Moore said the rocket was "38 miles in altitude, 35 miles downrange in distance and traveling at 4,200 miles per hour." The la...