#av069

Atlas V makes rare aerial arrival ahead of GOES-R launch.

AV-069 arrived at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Sunday night after a delay from Hurricane Matthew. Flying in from the rocket’s fabrication plant in Decatur, Alabama, the Atlas V rocket was offloaded midday Monday from the Antonov AN-124 aircraft. The rocket will be used to loft the next-generation weather forecasting GOES-R satellite in mid-November. Atlas will fly in the 541 configuration with a 5-meter payload fairing and four Soli Rocket Motors.

Most Atlas and Delta rockets arrive at their launch site via the Delta Mariner, ULA’s rocket transport ship. However, during the rare times when the Mariner is unavailable, ULA uses the Antonov. Atlas rockets have arrived at Cape Canaveral via aircraft previously, dating back to the missile’s early day’s in the mid 1950s. The vehicle below was the Atlas D vehicle for one of Project Mercury’s uncrewed flights in the early 1960s. The second image shows an Atlas D arriving on January 6, 1961. Both rockets arrived on an Air Force C-133 Cargomaster.

P/c: 45th Space Wing.