A 20-story Delta IV rocket is poised on its Cape Canaveral Air Force Station pad for an 11:25 p.m. launch of a next-generation Global Positioning Systems satellite. Technicians rolled a 330-foot Mobile Service Tower back from the United Launch Alliance rocket this morning at Launch Complex 37. The tower took about 30 minutes to move into position by 11:30 a.m.
After a problem with a launch pad swing arm earlier in the week delayed the first launch attempt by a day, no technical concerns are being monitored.
Air Force and ULA launch teams will receive a weather update around 4:30 p.m. ahead of fuel loading operations about an hour later.
The forecast so far is near-perfect, with a 90-percent chance of favorable conditions during an 18-minute launch window that closes at 11:43 p.m.
In the event of a scrub, the forecast is just as good for Saturday night.
ULA is launching the first in a series of 12 Boeing Co.-built satellites that will keep the GPS constellation of 24 satellites intact and improve its capabilities for military and civilian users.
The new group of satellites is known as block IIF. The program is expected to cost $1.6 billion.
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Click here to link to ULA's live Webcast of the launch, scheduled to begin at 11 p.m.
IMAGE: A United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket with the Air Force's Global Positioning System GPS IIF SV-1 satellite sits poised on its Launch Complex-37 launch pad ready to launch tonight. Credit: Pat Corkery, ULA.
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