Atlas V Delays Launch Of AEHF-1 Needs More Confidence

The Atlas V launch of the first Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite (AEHF-1) from SLC-41 at the cape has been delayed 10 days from 30 July to 10 August.  This delay was necessary to provide engineers more time to perform confidence testing on a launch vehicle component associated with releasing the fairing support structure. Processing on both the launch vehicle and satellite continues nominally to a new launch date of 10 August.  This slip in the AEHF-1 launch is not expected to impact other launches in the manifest.

AEHF 1 is the first of a new generation of geosynchronous spacecraft that relay secure communications between the Pentagon and battlefield commanders. The manufacturer describes the AEHF 1 as dependable, jam-resistant and immune from interception.

The designers of the AEHF1, built by Lockheed Martin with help from Northrop Grumman, say one of the new spacecraft has more capacity than the Milstar’s five-satellite constellation it replaces. They say its faster data rates will benefit tactical military communications, enabling higher quality maps, targeting data and live video to be transmitted without being detected by the enemy. Two more AEHF satellites are built and progressing through factory testing. Their launches aboard Atlas 5 rockets are expected by 2012.

This will be the 22nd launch for the Atlas 5 since 2002 and the ninth dedicated Defense Department mission. Atlas completed two civil and military flights earlier this year to deploy NASA’s new Sun-watching observatory and the Air Force’s X-37B experimental spaceplane.