Atlas V Rocket To Launch Later This Week

The first rocket launch from Cape Canaveral this year is planned at 7:46 p.m. on Thursday, with a 19-story Atlas V rocket. The forecast so far looks promising for the on-time lift-off, with an 80 percent chance of favorable conditions. However, the probability of cumulus clouds forming in the area could pose a slight concern.

Florida Today reported that the United Launch Alliance and the Air Force mission managers completed reviews on Tuesday that confirmed they are ready to move the 194-foot rocket to the pad at Launch Complex 41, along with it is the 10,000-pound Space Based Infrared System Satellite (SBIRS).

Atlas V is the third in a series built by Lockheed Martin. It is designed to detect and track ballistic missiles from 22,300 miles above the equator. SpaceFlight Now noted that the first SBIRS Geo satellite was launched in May 2011, the second in March 2013 and this one, later in the week. A fourth satellite is also expected to launch later this year to complete the constellation.

However, this woul not be the first trip by Atlas V. In fact, it is said to be flying for the 69th time this Thursday. It is expected to launch in its most frequently flown configuration, with no solid motors added as to ensure the safety of the stage booster.

Colonel Dennis Bythewood, the director of the Remote Sensing Systems directorate of the Air Force, noted that this space launch is important, as it will "continue the ability to do 24/7 missile warning for the nation and our allies."

The Air Force refused to identify the exact position of the satellite. But it did say that the GEO 3 could further expand the area that can be covered by the SBIRS-quality surveillance. "The addition of GEO 3 adds to the GEO 1 and 2 capability and provides a wider area of the Earth that we get that higher sensitivity to detect dimmer and shorter burning missiles," Bythewood said.