Inside the high bay of the Astrotech Space Operations facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a technician checks the flight door for the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) on NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) on June 21, 2018. The satellite is being prepared for its scheduled launch from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg on the final United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. ICESat-2 will measure the height of a changing Earth, one laser pulse at a time, 10,000 laser pulses a second. The satellite will carry ATLAS. ICESat-2 will help scientists investigate why, and how much our planet's frozen and icy areas, called the cryosphere, is changing in a warming climate.

Inside the high bay of the Astrotech Space Operations facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a technician opens and checks the flight door for the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) on NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) on June 21, 2018. The satellite is being prepared for its scheduled launch from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg on the final United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. ICESat-2 will measure the height of a changing Earth, one laser pulse at a time, 10,000 laser pulses a second. The satellite will carry ATLAS. ICESat-2 will help scientists investigate why, and how much our planet's frozen and icy areas, called the cryosphere, is changing in a warming climate.

Inside the high bay of the Astrotech Space Operations facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians open and check the flight door for the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) on NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) on June 18, 2018. The satellite is being prepared for its scheduled launch from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg on the final United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. ICESat-2 will measure the height of a changing Earth, one laser pulse at a time, 10,000 laser pulses a second. The satellite will carry ATLAS. ICESat-2 will help scientists investigate why, and how much our planet's frozen and icy areas, called the cryosphere, is changing in a warming climate.

Inside the high bay of the Astrotech Space Operations facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a technician checks the flight door for the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) on NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) on June 21, 2018. The satellite is being prepared for its scheduled launch from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg on the final United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. ICESat-2 will measure the height of a changing Earth, one laser pulse at a time, 10,000 laser pulses a second. The satellite will carry ATLAS. ICESat-2 will help scientists investigate why, and how much our planet's frozen and icy areas, called the cryosphere, is changing in a warming climate.

At the Army Wharf at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Mariner cargo ship door is lowered on June 5, 2019, for offloading of the ULA Atlas V booster that will be used for Boeing’s Crew Flight Test (CFT). The Atlas V rocket will launch the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft and its crew, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Nicole Mann and Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson, to the International Space Station for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The booster will be transported to the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center to await the start of operations for its mission. The CFT will demonstrate Starliner and Atlas V’s ability to safely carry crew to and from the orbiting laboratory.

At the Army Wharf at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Mariner cargo ship door is lowered on June 5, 2019, for offloading of the ULA Atlas V booster that will be used for Boeing’s Crew Flight Test (CFT). The Atlas V rocket will launch the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft and its crew, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Nicole Mann and Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson, to the International Space Station for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The booster will be transported to the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center to await the start of operations for its mission. The CFT will demonstrate Starliner and Atlas V’s ability to safely carry crew to and from the orbiting laboratory.

Inside the Integrated Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, United Launch Alliance (ULA) technicians prepare to remove the contamination barrier and access door from the two ULA Atlas V rocket payload fairings for NASA’s Landsat 9 satellite on June 24, 2021. The fairings will encapsulate the satellite for its launch atop the Atlas V from Vandenberg in September 2021. The launch is being managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Landsat 9 will continue the nearly 50-year legacy of previous Landsat missions. It will monitor key natural and economic resources from orbit. Landsat 9 is managed by the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. It will carry two instruments: the Operational Land Imager 2, which collects images of Earth’s landscapes in visible, near-infrared and shortwave infrared light, and the Thermal Infrared Sensor 2, which measures the temperature of land surfaces. Like its predecessors, Landsat 9 is a joint mission between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Inside the Integrated Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, United Launch Alliance (ULA) technicians remove the access door from the two ULA Atlas V rocket payload fairings for NASA’s Landsat 9 satellite on June 24, 2021. The fairings will encapsulate the satellite for its launch atop the Atlas V from Vandenberg in September 2021. The launch is being managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Landsat 9 will continue the nearly 50-year legacy of previous Landsat missions. It will monitor key natural and economic resources from orbit. Landsat 9 is managed by the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. It will carry two instruments: the Operational Land Imager 2, which collects images of Earth’s landscapes in visible, near-infrared and shortwave infrared light, and the Thermal Infrared Sensor 2, which measures the temperature of land surfaces. Like its predecessors, Landsat 9 is a joint mission between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey.

The mobile service tower doors are open at Space Launch Complex-3 (SLC-3) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Oct. 28, 2022, revealing the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) and NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) atop. NASA and ULA are targeting launch for no earlier than Wednesday, Nov. 9, pending range availability. JPSS-2, which will be renamed NOAA-21 after reaching orbit, will join a constellation of JPSS satellites that orbit from the North to the South pole, circling Earth 14 times a day. The NOAA/NASA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite, and NOAA-20, previously known as JPSS-1, are both already in orbit. Each satellite carries at least four advanced instruments to measure weather and climate conditions on Earth. LOFTID will demonstrate inflatable heat shield technology that could enable a variety of proposed NASA missions to destinations such as Mars, Venus, and Titan, as well as returning heavier payloads from low-Earth orbit.

In this view looking up, the mobile service tower doors are open at Space Launch Complex-3 (SLC-3) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Oct. 28, 2022, revealing the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) and NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) atop. NASA and ULA are targeting launch for no earlier than Wednesday, Nov. 9, pending range availability. JPSS-2, which will be renamed NOAA-21 after reaching orbit, will join a constellation of JPSS satellites that orbit from the North to the South pole, circling Earth 14 times a day. The NOAA/NASA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite, and NOAA-20, previously known as JPSS-1, are both already in orbit. Each satellite carries at least four advanced instruments to measure weather and climate conditions on Earth. LOFTID will demonstrate inflatable heat shield technology that could enable a variety of proposed NASA missions to destinations such as Mars, Venus, and Titan, as well as returning heavier payloads from low-Earth orbit.