An unmanned Atlas V rocket was successfully by United Launch Alliance from Florida on Wednesday to put a next-gen communications satellite belonging to the U.S. military into orbit.
Launching 19 minutes off schedule due to technical issues, the 20-story tall rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 6:18 a.m., according to News4Jax.
On top of the rocket was the fourth satellite in the U.S. Navy's $7.3 billion Mobile User Objective System, or MUOS, which is utilizes commercial cellphone technology to help troops make secure calls and send texts, videos or other mission data, reported The Arizona Central. Essentially allowing handheld radios in the field to work much like smartphones.
The U.S. Navy notes the MUOS network will eventually replace the Navy's Ultra High Frequency Follow-On satellite system, providing 16 times more capacity than the current network.
"MUOS is a game-changer in communications for every branch of our military," said Iris Bombelyn, vice president of Narrowband Communications at Lockheed Martin, which built the satellites as part of a joint operation with Boeing Co., according to Reuters.
Weighing nearly 15,000 pounds, the MUOS satellite needed the most powerful version of the Atlas rocket, which was outfitted with five strap-on solid rocket motors built by GenCorp Inc's Aerojet Rocketdyne.
The MUOS satellite launched on Wednesday completes the operational system. A fifth spacecraft is slated for launch in July 2016, according to the U.S. Navy, which will server as a spare.
