Propelled with DLA Energy-supplied high purity hydrazine, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, Aug. 8.
Approximately 2,600 pounds of high purity hydrazine was supplied for the rocket launch and payload and 755 pounds of dinitrogen tetroxide for the payload to deploy the fifth U.S. Air Force Advanced Extremely High Frequency communications satellite.
“We provided the same support for all five AEHF satellites and the first-gen program called Milstar,” said DLA Energy Aerospace Energy Director of Customer Operations Stephen Nichols. “While four AEHF satellites are already in space, the AEHF 5 will provide an additional highly secure layer of flexibility to help Warfighters connect globally to U.S. government leaders.”
According to the Air Force, the AEHF is a joint service satellite communications system that provides survivable, global, secure, protected, and jam-resistant communications for high-priority military ground, sea and air assets. The AEHF system will consist of six satellites in geosynchronous earth orbit that provides 10 times the throughput of the 1990s-era Milstar satellites with a substantial increase in coverage for users.
“Supporting DoD rockets and satellites is something that requires the entire DLA Energy team to accomplish,” Nichols said. “We are all involved, and everyone in DLA Energy should feel a sense of accomplishment when they see one of these rockets liftoff.”
The Customer Operations team collects requirements from rocket and spacecraft manufactures, Supplier Operations team and Quality Technical team ensure these technical contracts are awarded and sustained, and finally the finance and legal partners provide valuable resources and counsel needed pre- and post-award, Nichols explained.