SDO Launch
Spacecraft: Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)
Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Atlas V-401
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station - Launch Complex 41
Launch Date: Feb. 11, 2010
Launch Time: 10:23 a.m. EST
SDO Lifts Off!

Image above: The Atlas V rocket with the Solar Dynamics Observatory aboard lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Photo credit: United Launch Alliance/Pat Corkery
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NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, launched at 10:23:00 a.m. EST aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The spacecraft separated from its launch vehicle on-time after a flawless climb into orbit.
Atlas V
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V with its Centaur upper stage pushed the 6,800-pound Solar Dynamics Observatory into an orbit 22,300 miles above Earth. The Atlas V made its first flight in 2002.
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