Live At The Cape: Delta II Unveiled Before Launch

Powerful floodlights are illuminating a Delta II rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at this hour as the U.S. Air Force and United Launch Alliance prepare to send up a GPS navigation satellite.

Here's our first look at the 12-story rocket, which is scheduled to blast off from Launch Complex 17A at the start of a five-minute launch window that will open at 4:34 a.m. The Mobile Service Tower swung back away from the launch vehicle and was put in the launch position at about 8:15 p.m.

The Delta II will carry the Global Positioning System spacecraft IIR-20 into an orbit 11,000 nautical miles above Earth. The terminal countdown is scheduled to pick up at 1:34 a.m. and the weather forecast calls for an 80 percent chance that conditions will be acceptable for launch.

Check out the details in the Official Launch Forecast from the Air Force 45th Space Wing Weather Squadron, which provides forecasting services for all launches from Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center.

The Air Force is asking mariners to steer clear of launch hazard area off the coast of Cape Canaveral between 2:30 a.m. and 5:45 a.m. Click here for a map of the Launch Hazard Area.

The terminal countdown for the launch will begin about 1:34 a.m. We'll have live updates throughout and you can also watch live video coverage of the final countdown and launch right here in The Flame Trench beginning about 20 minutes prior to liftoff.

You can follow along with the terminal countdown by checking out the bar chart in this United Launch Alliance Delta-GPS II-R20 Mission Booklet See pages 14 and 15.

ABOUT THE IMAGE: Click to enlarge the United Launch Alliance image of the Delta II rocket at Launch Complex 17A. Photo Credit: United Launch Alliance/Carleton Bailie.