ULA Sets New Launch Date for Space Test Program Mission STP-3

The mission previously was scheduled to launch June 23 from Cape Canaveral but was delayed to investigate an issue in the Atlas 5’s RL-10 upper stage engine.  The Atlas 5 551 will fly with five solid rocket boosters and launch two satellites directly to geosynchronous orbit. 

STP-3’s primary payload is the STPSat-6 satellite built by Northrop Grumman. It will carry NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD), an end-to-end optical relay that will send and receive data from space to the ground. According to NASA, LCRD also will conduct optical communications relay services with a future terminal on the International Space Station and will help to prove the bility of using laser communications in future missions to the Moon and Mars.

The launch of this mission has been long awaited. The Air Force in 2017 awarded ULA a $191.1 million contract to launch STP-3 in 2019. The delays were caused by a combination of payload development setbacks, the pandemic and most recently the RL-10 engine issue.

The secondary payload on STP-3 is a U.S. Space Force small-satellite deployer system called Long Duration Propulsion ESPA-1 (LDPE-1). This is a propulsive ESPA ring (EELV Secondary Payload Adapter) holding up to six payloads. Also on STPSat-6 is a nuclear treaty verification payload from the National Nuclear Security Administration called SABRS-3, short for Space and Atmospheric Burst Reporting System-3.  The STPSat-6 spacecraft additionally will carry seven smaller science and technology payloads selected by the Defense Department’s Space Test Program.

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