Atlas V launches NROL-67 Military Spacecraft geosynchronous orbit for observation

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2014/04/atlas-v-nrol-67-military-mission/


Atlas V launches NROL-67 military spacecraft
April 10, 2014 by William Graham
no alt

The United Launch Alliance (ULA) have launched an Atlas V, tasked with deploying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office. The mission, designated NRO Launch 67 (NROL-67), lifted off from Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex -41 (SLC-41) on schedule at 13:45 local time (17:45 UTC) on Thursday.


Atlas V/NROL-67 Mission:

The mission of the NROL-67 payload is classified. While this has never stopped observers identifying most NRO spacecraft ahead of their launch, this marks the first use by the NRO of an Atlas V 541 rocket, indicating that it is likely a new class of payload. As such, the spacecraft is much harder to identify as there are no similar launches to compare it to.

Notices to airmen (NOTAMS) and hazard areas published ahead of the launch show that the rocket will launch to the East, over the Atlantic Ocean, to a low-inclination orbit. Such a trajectory means that the payload is almost certainly bound for a geosynchronous orbit, since other equatorial regimes are of little value for reconnaissance.

More @ link but this tells what it is for.... probably getting situated before war... Ukraine or.. other in area.

That's a big boy...

"The mission patch for NROL-67 depicts the winged horse Pegasus above the Earth, with the words “in scientia opportunitas” which translate as “In knowledge there is opportunity”.

Significantly, the depiction of the Earth prominently shows Europe, rather than North America like most US military patches.

This may indicate where the satellite will be positioned in geostationary orbit.

The launch patch, by contrast, prominently features a dragon set against clouds and a full moon.

The motto reads “forest fortuna adiuvat”, an unusual variant spelling of “fortes fortuna adiuvat”; “fortune favours the bold”.


The dragon has long been a symbol associated with the NRO’s signals intelligence missions.

While it has been suggested that its presence on a patch traditionally designed by the launch team rather than the payload team may be coincidence, symbols have in the past been seen on launch patches as well as the more prominent payload patches.

NROL-67′s patches have not been circulated as widely as those from previous missions