Atlas V launches SBIRS GEO-1

5/7/11 ~ 2:10 p.m.

An Atlas V rocket launches on a hazy afternoon from Complex 41 with the first Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) satellite, GEO-1. The first in a new geosynchronous orbit-stationed fleet of missile-warning satellites, they are complimented by several others located in highly-elliptical orbits away from the equator. The series is a follow-on to the Defense Support Program (DSP) satellites that spanned 37 years of launches and were sent into space for the last time in November, 2007.