Missile Defense Launch Targeted For Saturday

The planned launch of a Delta II rocket and two missile defense satellites slipped a day to Saturday as a result of stormy weekend weather that delayed critical launch preparations.

The 12-story United Launch Alliance rocket and its payload -- a pair of technology demonstrators owned by the Missile Defense Agency -- now are slated to blast off from Launch Complex 17 at 8 a.m. Saturday. The launch window will extend until 9 a.m.

The launch had been slated for Friday, but stormy weather delayed the encapsulation of the spacecraft in the payload fairing of the Delta II rocket.

The prototype spacecraft will sensors that are designed to not only track enemy missiles during the boost phase but pass tracking data directly to missile defense interceptors with the accuracy and timeliness necessary to enable them to intercept and destroy the enemy missiles.

Officials with the Missile Defense Agency say the prototype spacecraft are expected to yield the data and information required to field an operations set of satellites as a key component of the nation's Ballistic Missile Defense System.

Check out an official Missile Defense Agency Space Tracking and Surveillance System Fact Sheet.

The launch is being managed by NASA for the Missile Defense Agency. The Delta II launch services were procured from United Launch Alliance, which operates both the Delta and Atlas fleets of expendable launch vehicles.

ABOUT THE IMAGES: Click to enlarge the NASA images of the Delta II rocket being readied for flight at Launch Complex 17 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller.