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On Wednesday the United Launch Alliance will again attempt to launch a Department of Defense spy satellite from Florida.
An Atlas-V rocket launch is scheduled for 5:22 PM EST from Cape Canaveral Air Base Complex 41.
The launch company had scheduled a launch for Sunday night, but said Friday that an approaching storm would require a change.
“Due to the impending climate of tropical depression Eta, we are launching the Atlas-V rocket on the NROL-101 mission … to protect the payload and vehicle,” ULA said in an update on its website.
A problem with the rocket’s power system thwarted a previous attempt Wednesday night before, and a problem with the satellite’s environmental controls forced a delay the day before, the ULA said.
The Department of Defense’s National Reconnaissance Office says little about any of its satellites, but the mission description says that the NROL 101 satellite will provide “intelligence data to the nation’s top policy makers,” as well as the nation’s intelligence agencies and military. .
The agency designed and built the satellite and will operate it according to the mission description.
ULA plans to use upgraded solid rocket thrusters for the first time at launch: three GEM 63 engines built by Northrop Grumman. Strap-on boosters will increase overall thrust.
The rocket’s first stage core will provide 860,200 pounds of thrust upon launch. The three side boosters will provide an additional 371,550 pounds, for a total of 1.23 million pounds.
By comparison, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will deliver more than 1.7 million pounds of thrust at launch, according to the company.
The new launchers are part of ULA’s transition from Atlas V to a new rocket and launcher system, Vulcan. The company expects the first Vulcan launch in the first half of 2021.
“The GEM 63s will be used during the launches of the Atlas V to gain flight experience in preparation for using the GEM 63XLs during the first #VulcanCentaur flight,” ULA announced on Twitter.
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