News Archive / Tagged: Centaur

• Blue Origin breaks ground on new BE-4 engine production facility

  Cullen DesforgesJanuary 27th, 2019

  On Jan.25, 2019, Blue Origin broke ground on its new engine production and assembly facility in Huntsville, Alabama, about 25 miles from United Launch Alliance’s Decatur assembly facility.

• Our SpaceFlight Heritage: 40th anniversary of the Titan IIIE/Centaur launch

  Gregory CecilFebruary 12th, 2015

  On Feb. 11, 1974, the first launch of the Titan IIIE/Centaur (TC 1) was carried out from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Titan IIIE/Centaur was designed to meet NASA’s payload requirements for future unmanned probes and this mission was a “Proof of Concept” flight. The launch was conducted by the Unmanned […]

• Our Spaceflight Heritage: LRO and LCROSS turn five!

  Heather SmithJune 18th, 2014

  On June 18, 2009 at 5:32 p.m. EDT, a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket roared off the launch pad at Launch Complex 41. In so doing, it signaled the start of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS)  missions to the Moon. The LRO and LCROSS spacecrafts […]

• Our Spaceflight Heritage: Surveyor 1, 1st American craft to soft land on the Moon

  Heather SmithMay 31st, 2014

  The Surveyor 1 spacecraft launched  from Complex 36A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station atop an Atlas/Centaur rocket on May 30,1966. It would become the first spacecraft to land softly on the surface of the Moon. The soft landing was achieved using a retrorocket and a bank of three thrusters to slow the lander’s speed […]

• Through spacecraft and observatories – wild new solar system comes into focus

  David DarlingMarch 31st, 2014

  A ring around an asteroid, a new dwarf planet, a fresh gully on Mars, and preparations to land on a comet – it’s all happening in the solar system at the moment. The last week or two has brought a slew of new discoveries and the promise of many more to come in the very […]

• United Launch Alliance celebrates Centaur’s 50th Anniversary

  SpaceFlight InsiderDecember 1st, 2013

  On November 22nd, the United Launch Alliance (ULA) celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Centaur upper stage’s first successful flight. Developed during the pioneering years of spaceflight, Centaur has been and still is a workhorse of America’s space program. Originally flying on Atlas rockets in the 1960s, Centaur was the very first high-energy cryogenic upper […]