The United Launch Alliance launched a Vulcan rocket Tuesday night from Florida as part of the first U.S. Space Force-sanctioned flight.
The 200-foot spacecraft with four rocket boosters lifted off at 8:56 p.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
“It’s an exciting day for us as we launched the first NSSL flight of Vulcan, an outstanding achievement for United Launch Alliance and the nation’s strategic space lift capability. This is an important milestone for the Space Force and all involved,” Col. Jim Horne, USSF-106 mission director, said in a statement Wednesday morning.
“After years of development, technical collaboration and dedication by all involved, including our government mission partners and the entire ULA team, I’m proud to say the first Vulcan NSSL mission delivered its payloads safely into space,” Horne added.
The spacecraft separation took place roughly seven hours after the rocket lifted into geosynchronous Earth orbit, according to the Space Force.
The experiment taking off on USSF-106, the Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3), which is the first U.S.-integrated navigation satellite experiment in close to five decades, according to the agency.
The flight featured at least two satellites on board, CBS News reported. One experimental satellite will test navigation technology and the other is fully classified.
“And with NTS-3, we are going to be experimenting with a number of different technologies that look at how we can continue to evolve and augment GPS to make sure that it remains the gold standard that our warfighters need,” Joanna Hinks, the senior aerospace engineer with the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, told CBS.
