Just days after perfectly launching NASA’s historic Mars 2020 mission, United Launch Alliance (ULA) has been awarded another major assignment that will benefit the United States.

SES, a global leader in content connectivity solutions, has selected ULA to launch two C-band satellites.

This launch is part of SES’s accelerated C-band clearing plan to meet the FCC’s objectives to roll out 5G services across America.

An Alabama-built ULA Atlas V rocket will launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 2022 and carry the two stacked satellites.

“We are pleased SES selected ULA and our proven Atlas V for this important commercial launch service,” Tory Bruno, ULA’s president and CEO, said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Atlas V is known for its unmatched level of schedule certainty and reliability and this launch is critical to the timely clearing of C-band spectrum, empowering America’s accelerated implementation of 5G,” he continued. “ULA’s legacy of performance, precision and mission design flexibility allow us to deliver a tailored launch service that minimizes orbit raising time and perfectly meet our customer’s requirements. We are thrilled to provide this optimized launch solution to SES for this crucial launch.”

The satellites launched by ULA will be manufactured by the Boeing Company as part of a SES contract awarded earlier this year. These satellites, combined with another pair to be built by Northrop Grumman, will reportedly enable SES to clear 280MHz of mid-band spectrum for 5G use while seamlessly migrating the company’s existing C-band customers and ensuring the continued delivery of digital television to nearly 120 million American TV homes and other critical data services.

ULA, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, builds rockets at its world-class facility in Decatur.

“Clearing mid-band spectrum expeditiously while protecting cable neighborhoods across America is a huge undertaking and one that requires partners that can deliver mission success and schedule assurance,” stated Steve Collar, CEO of SES. “We are thrilled to be working with ULA again and partnering to meet the FCC’s ambitious timeline for the accelerated clearing of C-band spectrum.”

Overall, ULA has now completed 140 missions with a 100% success rate. An Atlas V rocket powered 85 of those missions.

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn