Space

UPDATE: ULA Atlas V rocket launch of spy satellite postponed to Wednesday

By Irene Sans, WFTV.com

United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance Off-site Vertical Integration: Atlas V NROL-101 United Launch Alliance's (ULA's) Centaur upper stage arrives at the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) to be added to the Atlas V that will launch NROL-101 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance (united launch alliance)

By Irene Sans, WFTV.com

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — UPDATE: The Atlas V rocket carrying the NROL-101 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) set for Election Day has been postponed.

The launch is now set for 5:54 p.m. on Wednesday.

“The #AtlasV was rolled to the pad today for final launch processing. Upon arriving at the launch pad we experienced an upper payload environmental control system flow rate reduction,” ULA tweeted Monday evening. “The team is in the process of rolling the #AtlasV back to the vertical integration facility (VIF) to complete troubleshooting. The vehicle and payload are healthy.”

Read our previous coverage below:

The Atlas V rocket carrying the NROL-101 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is set to launch from Cape Canaveral at 5:58 p.m. from Space Launch Complex 41.

It’s an instantaneous launch window, meaning that if it doesn’t launch exactly at that time, the post will have to be rescheduled for a later date.

PHOTOS: Rocket launches from Central Florida

The NROL-101 mission will be ULA’s 29th mission launched for the National Reconnaissance Office and the 17th NRO mission launched on an Atlas V. This will be 141st mission for United Launch Alliance.

READ: Actor Tom Cruise to liftoff from Cape Canaveral to film first movie shot in space

This is a classified payload of the National Reconnaissance Office, which oversees U.S. spy satellite operations. All we know is that the payload might likely be a U.S. spy satellite.

For Tuesday’s launch, the mission has a 90% chance of a “go”.

READ: United Arab Emirates to launch spacecraft to moon in 2024

The first Atlas V rocket was launch in 2002.

You can watch the rocket launch live on WFTV.com and the WFTV news app.

The science behind the sonic booms Lots of research going on at the Cape and more frequent launches will make these sounds more common.

Follow our Severe Weather team on Twitter for live updates:

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