Posted: Sat, Nov 12, 2022, 8:09 AM ET (1309 GMT)
An Atlas 5 launched a weather satellite and a reentry technology demonstration payload this morning. The Atlas 5 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 4:49 am EST (0949 GMT) carrying the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) 2 weather satellite and the Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) payload. The Centaur upper stage deployed JPSS-2 into its polar orbit nearly a half hour later. NASA did not confirm that JPSS-2 deployed its solar array until more than 12 hours after launch. LOFTID, meanwhile, was released from the Centaur 75 minutes after liftoff and, after inflating its heat shield, reentered and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean east of Hawaii to be recovered by a ship.

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