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Rescue Wing Airmen support military communications satellite launch

  • Published
  • By Maj. Cathleen Snow
  • 920th Rescue Wing Public Affairs
CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla. --  Airmen from the 920th Rescue Wing safeguarded the hazard zone during a nightitime launch of a multimillion-dollar military communications satellite May 24.

As the full moon was rising over Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Reserve Airmen from the 920th RQW were already airborne from nearby Patrick Air Force Base. Piloting two HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters within sight of the 217-foot Delta IV, they went to work clearing the Eastern Range for everyone's safety prior to lift off.

At 8:27 p.m. EDT, the rocket's afterburner glowed then flames pushed the rocket into orbit and burned brightly over the Atlantic Ocean as it thundered toward orbit carrying the satellite. Airmen remained airborne while the rocket dashed into space to ensure continued safety on the range.

The spacecraft is the fifth rocket in a series of Boeing-built Wideband Global SATCOM spacecraft designed to provide the DoD, the White House and U.S. and allied forces around the world with secure, high-bandwidth communications.

"It's a great feeling to see the launch of the fifth satellite, especially knowing how important this constellation is to our servicemen and servicewomen deployed around the world," said Air Force Col. David Goldstein, deputy director of the MILSAT Systems Directorate at Los Angeles Air Force Base.

A single WGS spacecraft is capable of providing more bandwidth capability than an entire constellation of preceding Defense Satellite Communications System (DCSC) spacecraft, said Goldstein.

Over the next several months, the WGS-5 satellite will undergo extensive testing. Onboard thrusters also will be used to nudge it into an operational orbit 22,300 miles above Earth.

The launch was the fifth this year for United Launch Alliance and its second in just nine days. An Atlas V rocket launched a GPS navigation satellite from Cape Canaveral on May 15.

The next launch from the Cape is set for July 19 when an Atlas V rocket will lift a Navy communications satellite into orbit.