FORCE BASE, Calif. — The last Atlas IIAS to be launched from the West Coast arrived here March 12.
A C-5 Galaxy from Denver ferried the historic booster and its Centaur upper stage to Vandenberg.
Lt. Col. Clinton Crosier, 2nd Space Launch Squadron commander, said the booster and upper stage would spend a week at a processing facility before being convoyed out to Space Launch Complex-3 for stacking. The Atlas is slated to launch June 16.
Crosier said he recognizes the significance of this launch.
“The Atlas was one of the first ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles),” Crosier said. ìJohn Glenn rode an Atlas into orbit in the first manned space program. This launch closes out the Atlas program for Vandenberg.”
Capt. Ram Riojas, 2nd SLS, leads a 400-member team in this historic launch.
“The excitement will just grow now that the Atlas is actually here,” Riojas said. “We have many people working long hours to prepare this rocket for launch.” He added that since the booster has been introduced into the inventory, there have been about 283 Atlas launches at Vandenberg. The Atlas IIAS version has been launched out of Vandenberg since 1993.
There are eight variants of the Atlas booster, and the Atlas V will continue to be used at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., Riojas said.
In 1988, the Air Force contracted with General Dynamics, now Lockheed-Martin, to build the Atlas II booster for the primary mission of launching Defense Satellite Communications System payloads and commercial satellites. This Atlas carries a classified payload to be used by the National Reconnaissance Office for national security.
Crosier said the final Atlas launch from Vandenberg is truly historic, as the Atlas program has served the Air Force well over the years.
“As we fly this last one out, it really is kind of bittersweet,” he said.
