Atlas V rocket launches NASA laser communications prototype and Space Force experiments into orbit - Space.com

— An Atlas V rocket lit up the predawn sky over Florida early Tuesday (Dec. 7) to launch a novel NASA laser space communications satellite into orbit alongside a host of other payloads for the U.S.

The two-stage Atlas V rocket blasted off from Space Launch Complex 41 here at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 5:19 a.m.

EST (1019 GMT), as part of a mission called STP-3 (Space Test Program-3).

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V soared into orbit with the help of five solid rocket boosters.

Tuesday's flight marks the 90th flight of an Atlas V rocket since the formation of ULA in 2002.

(The company is a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing.) It also marks the 672nd overall flight of an Atlas family rocket since its debut in the 1950s. .

military's Space Test Program — a department dedicated to overseeing the Department of Defense's space-related activities — most of the payloads onboard are classified, but they are resting on a new platform designed for long-duraton flight.

Tuesday morning's flight was expected to put the Atlas V to the test as it is scheduled to set an endurance record for the launcher.

Today's launch will set a record for the Atlas V and its Centaur upper stage as it pushes the limits of Centaur's capability. .

The flight also features three new upgrades to the Atlas V rocket — new payload fairings, an in-flight power system, and enhanced GPS navigation system — which will be tested in advance of flying on the upcoming Vulcan Centaur rocket.

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On Thursday morning (Dec. 9), just under 48-hours after the Atlas V's launch, another SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will take to the skies, this time carrying with it a space observatory for NASA. 

In addition to those launches, Russia's space agency Roscosmos will launch two Japanese space tourists (billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and his video producer Yozo Hirano) to the International Space Station with cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin on a 12-day spaceflight

Also launching this week is Blue Origin's suborbital New Shepard NS-19 space tourism mission, which will fly six people — including Good Morning America host Michael Strahan and Laura Shepard Churchley, the eldest daughter of first American in space Alan Shepard — on a short trip to space