After a two-day delay due to the potential threat of what was Tropical Storm Erika, United Launch Alliance sent an Atlas V rocket carrying a U.S. Navy satellite into orbit Wednesday morning from the Space Coast.
The launch created a cloud plume about two minutes after liftoff, but ULA said nothing went wrong with the launch. The satellite is now in space.
Unusual atmospheric conditions creating extraordinary views for launch! If you're sharing pics, use #AtlasV or #MUOS so we can find/share.
— ULA (@ulalaunch) September 2, 2015
ULA officials said the smoke trail from the liftoff caught the sunlight at just the right angle to create the plume in the pre-dawn sky. With five boosters, the Atlas V rocket is ULA's most powerful rocket.
"When the Atlas went over the horizon, the plume was spreading out and the sunlight happened to come through it at the proper time that really illuminated the whole plume," said John Hilliard, a public affairs volunteer with the 45th Space Wing. "We normally have that plume, but you don't see it because we don't have the illumination that we did today."
The rocket created about 2.5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. The satellite on board the rocket weighs about 15,000 pounds.
The rocket carried the fourth Mobile User Objective System, or MUOS, to orbit about 22,000 miles above Earth.
The satellite is part of a cluster that will provide video, voice and data for troops across the globe. The satellites act like cellphone towers for even the most remote regions of the planet.
One more satellite is set to launch and join the others in 2016.
(Jon Shaban, Staff)
(Jon Shaban, Staff)
This is what the Atlas V rocket looked like before it was sent into space. (PHOTO/United Launch Alliance)