A United launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket soars upward after liftoff from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Nov. 10, carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) and NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) technology demonstration. Launch was at 1:49 a.m. PST. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin
Booster engine cutoff occurred on time, the first and second stages separated as planned, and the Centaur second stage main engine has started its burn. The payload fairing that protected the JPSS-2 satellite during the first minutes of ascent has jettisoned as expected. The second stage main engine will burn for just over 12 minutes, taking the spacecraft towards the Equator and to low-Earth orbit.
