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WGS-5 (Delta IV) Cape Canaveral Air Force Station - 24 May 2013 |
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| A United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket lifts a military communications satellite into orbit from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 8:27 p.m. on 24 May 2013. According to a ULA press release for the launch:
This WGS mission is the fifth installment of the Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) system. The WGS satellites are an important element of a new high- capacity satellite communications system providing enhanced communications capabilities to our troops in the field for the next decade and beyond. WGS enables more robust and flexible execution of Command and Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4lSR), as well as battle management and combat support information functions. The WGS constellation augments the existing service available through the UHF Follow-on satellite by providing enhanced information broadcast capabilities. |
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| A time exposure showing the flower-like pattern of second stage ignition at high altitude. The two objects catching the light of the Sun behind the rocket are the two halves of the fairing that covered the satellite providing protection through the dense part of the atmosphere. As the rocket climbs out of the atmosphere the fairing is discarded to fall away into the ocean. | |
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