A powerful United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket is being readied for the planned launch Monday evening of a classified payload for the super-secret National Reconnaissance Office.With NASA's shuttle Atlantis grounded until January, the 19-story rocket is slated to blast off from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 5:03 p.m. EST Monday.
The weather forecast for launch is favorable. Meteorologists say there is an 80 percent chance conditions will be acceptable for flight. The detailed forecast from the Air Force 45th Space Wing Weather Squadron is here: AtlasWX.pdf.
The exact window for the mission is classified because it might shed light on the identity of the payload and its mission. A launch danger zone off the coast of Cape Canaveral will be cleared through 7 p.m. EST.
A map of the Launch Hazard Area is here: AtlasDangerZone.doc.
Another showing restricted airspace around the launch site is here: AtlasRestrictedAirspace.doc.
A Boeing-built Satellite Data System spacecraft will be hauled into orbit aboard the Atlas, according to the highly regarded trade magazine Aviation Week and Space Technology. The spacecraft will beam imagery and other data to the ground from other NRO satellites.
Based in Chantilly, Va., the NRO designs, builds and operates the nation's fleet of top-secret reconnaissance satellites. The spacecraft include:
++Photo reconnaissance satellites that reportedly can image objects as small as the letters on license plates.
++All-weather radar reconnaissance satellites that are capable of peering through clouds or storms and can even gather nighttime imagery.
++Signals intelligence spacecraft that act as "Big Ears" in orbit, intercepting radio, telephone communications as well as other electronic transmissions.
The NRO also operates ocean surveillance satellites that can track ships and submarines as well as the type of data relay craft reportedly aboard the Atlas.
We'll have live coverage of the launch on Monday starting at 3:30 p.m. EST.
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