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CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida – United Launch Alliance (ULA) is ready to send a Atlas v rocket in space on Wednesday night (November 4), after a 24-hour delay to replace hardware, and you can watch the action live.
The two-stage rocket will take off from Space Launch Complex 41 here in Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, carrying a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, which operates the US government’s fleet of spy satellites.
you can watch the launch live here and on the Space.com homepage, courtesy of ULA, starting approximately 15 minutes before take-off. You will also be able to do this watch the launch directly from ULA.
Take-off is scheduled for just after sunset, at 5:54 PM EST (2254 GMT). If the weather and the clouds work together, the launch could have a dazzling sight as twilight is the magical time for rocket launches; at sunrise and sunset, the sun is positioned to illuminate the rocket’s plume and make it look like a giant jellyfish in the sky. These launches are often confused for UFOs due to the strange wavy clouds product. (Spoiler alert: They definitely aren’t aliens.)
Related: What’s in the sky? A SpaceX rocket, but it sure doesn’t look like it
Meteorologists from the 45th Meteorological Squadron did it expected a 70% chance of favorable launch conditions on Wednesday night. The main concern is land winds, which are expected to enter from the northeast at 15-20 knots (17 to 23 mph or 28 to 37 km / h), with gusts of up to 26 knots (30 mph or 48 km / h). h). In a file official report Published Tuesday night (November 3), forecasters said they expected clear skies and breezy winds. It’s unclear when the backup date would be if the rocket couldn’t take off Wednesday night, how SpaceX is expected to launch an updated GPS satellite Thursday evening.
Named NROL-101, the mission is ULA’s fifth so far this year. The National Reconnaissance Office was stingy with the payload details, typical of these types of missions, but confirmed that the payload was designed and built by the NRO.
“NROL-101 supports NRO’s global homeland security mission to deliver intelligence data to senior US policymakers, the intelligence community and the Department of Defense,” wrote the NRO in a press kit for the mission.
Meteorologists from the 45th Meteorological Squadron did it expected a 70% chance of favorable launch conditions on Wednesday night. The main concern is land winds, which are expected to enter from the northeast at 15-20 knots (17 to 23 mph or 28 to 37 km / h), with gusts of up to 26 knots (30 mph or 48 km / h). h). In a file official report released Tuesday night (Nov.3), forecasters said they expected clear skies and breezy winds. It’s unclear when the backup date would be if the rocket couldn’t take off Wednesday night, how SpaceX is expected to launch an updated GPS satellite Thursday evening.
Named NROL-101, the mission is ULA’s fifth so far this year. The National Reconnaissance Office was stingy with the payload details, typical of these types of missions, but confirmed that the payload was designed and built by the NRO.
“NROL-101 supports NRO’s global homeland security mission to provide intelligence data to senior US policymakers, the intelligence community and the Department of Defense,” wrote the NRO in a press kit for the mission.
The flight will mark the 29th mission for the NRO and the 17th mission of its kind launched on an Atlas V. Over the weekend, ULA officials conducted a review of launch readiness by giving the go-ahead for launch. Early Monday morning (November 2), the rocket rolled out of its hangar and moved onto the SLC-41 launch pad, located just a third of a mile (half a kilometer) away.
Shortly after the rocket arrived, crews noticed a problem with the vehicle’s environmental control system. Strong winds may have damaged the line feeding air conditioning to the rocket’s payload, according to ULA officials. This problem requires a solution that cannot be done on the pad, so the crews transported the vehicle to its integration facility for repair.
The work was completed late on Tuesday evening (November 3rd), with the president and CEO of ULA, Tory Bruno, tweeting that the problematic duct has been replaced with a reinforced one. The rocket was then sent back to the platform to begin preparations for launch.
After embarking on its 550-meter journey, the rocket has been powered up and has begun a series of pre-launch checks that will lead to fuel loading, an activity that will start two hours before take-off and will eventually launch if everything is fine as planned.
The mission will mark the 86th flight of an Atlas V since 2002 and the fifth to fly this year. It will also be ULA’s 30th launch to carry an NRO payload. The agency, which operates the US government’s fleet of spy satellites, uses these eyes in the sky to deliver optical and radar images, intercept adversary communications, and send secure communications to intelligence agencies.
“ULA is proud to play a vital role in supporting our mission partners and homeland security, keeping our country safe, one launch at a time,” Gary Wentz, vice president of government, said in a corporate email statement. and ULA’s commercial programs.
Related: Pentagon chooses SpaceX, ULA to launch national security missions
The 206-foot (63 m) tall Atlas V is powered by a mixture of liquid oxygen and RP-1, a refined form of kerosene used for space flights, and liquid hydrogen in its upper stage. The vehicle will fly in the “531” configuration, with three solid rocket engines, a payload fairing of 17.7 feet (5.4 m in diameter).
Today’s flight will mark the fourth time an Atlas V has flown in the 531 configuration and the first mission to use newly upgraded solid rocket engines. The GEM 63 boosters are manufactured by Northrop Grumman and have been made to replace the previous models made by Aerojet Rocketdyne. Each of the 20m-long rocket engines offers 373,800 pounds of extra thrust. According to ULA, the GEM 63s are easier to handle and cost less than their predecessors.
ULA plans to use a more robust version, called the GEM 63XL on its next generation rocket, the Vulcan Centaur, currently under construction. By testing a smaller version on the Atlas V, the rocket manufacturer plans to thoroughly test the capabilities of the GEM before fixing one on a Vulcan.
The NRO hasn’t revealed too many details about this launch or its payload. However, warning notices issued to pilots and boaters and to animation of the mission profile they suggest the rocket is flying on a northeastern route that will eventually put it in a high-tilt orbit with regular views of the Northern Hemisphere.
Today’s launch could be the first of a double header, as SpaceX prepares to launch its own government payload, an upgraded GPS satellite for the US Space Force. The launch, originally scheduled for October 2, was canceled at the last second when engineers noticed an engine problem.
The team identified the cause of the anomaly and replaced two of the rocket’s engines. If all goes as planned, that launch will depart from a launch pad adjacent to Space Launch Complex 40 on Thursday evening (November 5). Takeoff is scheduled for 6:24 PM EST (2324 GMT) and the launch will be broadcast on Space.com.
Follow Amy Thompson on Twitter @astrogingersnap. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
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