spacetoday.net: Atlas cleared for X-37B launch

Posted: Sat, Dec 8, 2012, 8:58 AM ET (1358 GMT)
Atlas 5 launch of X-37B OTV-2 (ULA)

United Launch Alliance said Friday it has cleared Tuesday's scheduled launch of an Atlas 5 carrying a X-37B military spaceplane after completing an investigation into an October launch anomaly. The Atlas 5 501 is scheduled for launch on the afternoon of December 11 carrying an X-37B vehicle on the Orbital Test Vehicle 3 (OTV-3) mission for the Air Force. The launch, originally planned for late October, was delayed after a problem with a Delta 4 launch of a GPS satellite in early October where the rocket's upper stage underperformed. Both the Atlas and Delta use versions of the RL10 engine in their upper stages, so ULA postponed the Atlas launch whine the investigation continued. ULA sad that the Delta anomaly was caused by a fuel leak in the interior of the engine chamber and that "all credible crossover implications" for the Atlas launch had been addresses and cleared.