The only minor technical issue Tuesday came when ULA tried to top off the Atlas 5’s first stage with liquid oxygen, but officials quickly cleared that snag with just a seven-minute delay. ULA scrubbed a launch attempt Monday after a faulty temperature sensor caused problems during rocket fueling preparations, but the countdown Tuesday proceeded with few problems. “SBIRS capability really remains an on-orbit guardian for us against global ballistic missile threats,” said Col. Erin Gulden, mission director for the SBIRS GEO 5 mission at the Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center, which manages procurement of military satellites. Heading for an orbital perch more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator, the SBIRS GEO 5 satellite launched Monday debuted new improvements over the previous block of four SBIRS satellites. and allied forces early warning of an attack. The infrared payload on the SBIRS satellites can detect the hot exhaust plumes from missile launches around the world, giving U.S. Hosting a suite of sophisticated heat-seeking sensors, the Space Force’s fifth Space Based Infrared System, or SBIRS, satellite took off from pad 41 on Florida’s Space Coast on an Atlas 5 rocket at 1:37 p.m. military’s missile defense systems rode into orbit from Cape Canaveral Tuesday at the tip of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket. Credit: Alex Polimeni / Spaceflight NowĪn upgraded, cyber-hardened $1 billion satellite to support the U.S. A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket blasts off with the U.S.