Space Shuttle Rockets Into Orbit on Secret Spy Mission

Atlantis and its crew of five military astronauts rocketed into orbit today on a secret mission that reportedly will deploy a powerful radar satellite to spy on the Soviet Union and guide the new stealth bomber.

The shuttle blasted off from its seaside launch pad at 6:30 a.m. PST--with less than 90 seconds to go in the launch window--after a blacked-out countdown that was delayed by the same weather worries that had forced a postponement Thursday. (Story, Page 19.)

The spaceship etched a fiery path in the sky as it headed straight up on a northward path--a course that will allow the $500-million satellite it releases to fly over 80% of the Soviet Union on its intelligence-gathering mission.

“A very clean ascent for Atlantis; there were no problems encountered on the way to orbit,” said Brian Welch, the commentator at Mission Control in Houston.

‘Very Clean Shape’

An hour later, Welch reported that “the vehicle is in very clean shape. There are no systems problems whatever to report.”

With those words, the Defense Department clamped a security lid on the flight, cutting off the normal NASA commentary on the mission and the broadcast of crew-to-ground conversations.

Only two further announcements were planned during the flight. The first, about four hours after launch, was a brief report that “the crew of Atlantis is go for orbit operations. All crew members are doing well, and all systems of the orbiter are performing satisfactorily.”

The second announcement will be an alert that Atlantis will land exactly 24 hours later at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The flight is expected to last three or four days.

The launch had been delayed 24 hours by strong winds along the shuttle’s flight path. Strong, shifting winds five miles up also threatened today’s liftoff, but weather balloon data read late in the countdown showed they were acceptable.

18-Ton Satellite

New doubts cropped up even at the 31-second mark, when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration again stopped the clock briefly because of concern about weather at a transatlantic landing site in Spain.

The astronauts, led by Navy Cmdr. Robert L. (Hoot) Gibson, spent 4 1/2 hours lying on their backs in their bulky escape suits awaiting the decision that finally sent them aloft.

Sources who spoke on condition of anonymity say the crew will release a giant 18-ton satellite named Lacrosse that is capable of gathering extremely sharp radar images of military targets in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

The information should help U.S. intelligence officials verify Soviet compliance with arms control treaties and serve as a “radar eye” for the new B-2 stealth bomber, the sources said.