ULA's USSF-8 mission will carry the fifth and sixth GSSAP satellites into geosynchronous orbit, some 22,600 miles (35,900 km) above the Earth.

GSSAP (Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program) is a series of space surveillance satellites developed by the Air Force and Orbital Sciences to provide a space-based capability operating in the near-geosynchronous orbit regime supporting U.S. Strategic Command space surveillance operations as a dedicated Space Surveillance Network (SSN) sensor.

The satellites “drift” above and below the Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) “belt” and employ advanced electro-optical sensors to observe other objects. The data collected is expected to enhance the abilities of the U.S. Space Force to understand the geosynchronous environment and develop new safety systems, including collision-avoidance mechanisms.

The previous pair of GSSAP satellites launched via ULA's Delta IV Medium+ boosters in July 2014 and August 2016.

Image Credit: ULA

Atlas V: the workhorse of United Launch Alliance's rocket fleet.

The rocket is a mix of Russian and American technology, using the Russian RD-180 as the rocket's first stage engine, and is one of the most versatile rockets in the world with 20 possible configurations -- though only 10 have flown.

Stats

Height: 58.3 m (191 ft) with payload fairing, 52.4 m (172 ft) with Starliner.

Diameter: 3.81 m (12.5 ft)

Mass: 590,000 kg (1,300,000 lb)

Stages: 2 (3 with Star 48 upper stage)

Developed in the mid- to late-1990s, it is the fifth and last major version of the veteran Atlas rocket, which began flying in 1957.

Lockheed Martin designed and built Atlas V as part of the U.S. government's 1994 initiative to create an Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program for national security missions.

The two companies with EELV rockets -- Lockheed Martin with Atlas V and Boeing with Delta IV -- merged in 2006, creating an effective U.S. market monopoly with United Launch Alliance (ULA).

For years, the U.S. government paid ULA over $800 million annually -- not for rockets or launches but for ULA to maintain their facilities to be ready to launch EELV missions.

Therefore, pricing of the Atlas V has varied greatly over the years, with a basic Atlas V 401 (no boosters and a single-engine second stage) costing anywhere from the high-$90 millions to $163 million USD in the 2000s and early 2010s.

Sweeping price and cost-per-launch figure reductions have occurred since SpaceX began directly competing against ULA in the 2010s.

The Atlas V’s 501 variant costs a minimum of $120 million USD.

While not the cheapest rocket on the market, the Atlas V's safety and success record are unparalleled -- with a 100% mission success rating.

Atlas V 511

This mission will use the Atlas V 511 variant - with a five-meter payload fairing (5), one side-mounted solid rocket boosters (1), and a single engine Centaur upper stage (1).

The first flight of this variant will be the USSF-8 mission for the U.S. Space Force.

Image: ULA

Space Launch Complex-41 is the east-coast home of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket.

The pad hosted its first launch on December 21st, 1965 and is currently being upgraded to serve ULA's Vulcan rocket no earlier than 2022.

Vulcan and Atlas V will share the pad for several years before the Atlas is retired.

From the 1960s to the 1990s, SLC-41 was used for the U.S. Air Force’s Titan III and Titan IV rockets.

It has been the launch site of many notable missions:

• the Helios probes to study the Sun
• the Viking missions to Mars
• the Voyager interstellar probes
• the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
• New Horizon to Pluto and Kuiper Belt
• Juno to Jupiter.

The pad will soon start launching humans on Boeing's Starliner capsule beginning no earlier than 2024.

Located on Florida’s east coast, Cape Canaveral is ideally located to allow access to a wide variety of space destinations that can be reached while safely launching over the open Atlantic Ocean so as not to endanger anyone on the ground.

The Cape currently supports the launch of four different rocket families: Atlas V, Delta IV, Falcon 9, and Minotaur.

Launches of Vulcan from ULA and New Glenn from Blue Origin are set to begin no earlier than 2024 with current schedules.

NASA's Kennedy Space Center, which occupies neighboring Merritt Island, and Cape Canaveral are often confused with each other or referred to as a single place.

They are in fact separate government installations but united as a single “Eastern Range” for launch operations.

Over its history, the spaceport has held the following names:

• Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (1949-1963)
• Cape Kennedy Air Force Station (1963-1973)
• Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (1973-2020)
• Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (2020-present)

Credit: ULA