On an unusually frigid and windy Florida evening an Atlas 3B rocket launches the U.S. Navy’s Ultra-High Frequency Follow-On satellite designated with the dual acronyms UFO F11 or UHF-F11 into orbit. The images show from bottom left the Atlas 3B rocket sitting on the pad, above that the moment of liftoff, then the rocket rising over the water, and the large image shows a close-up of the main engines on the first stage and the blowtorch like exhaust. Interestingly, the first stage is powered by Russian RD-180 rocket engines. This communications satellite lifted off at 9:30 p.m. on 17 December 2003 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
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