Atlas Rocket To Roll Out For Launch Tuesday

Blogger update: The Atlas V rocket now is on its pad at Launch Complex 41 and the terminal countdown for launch will begin Tuesday afternoon. We're have live launch coverage here in The Flame Trench with online update all day and live launch webcast beginning about 25 minutes prior to the scheduled 9:24 p.m. liftoff.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is rolling out to its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station today as the Air Force presses ahead with plans to send up a new-generation military communications satellite on Tuesday night.

The Atlas V and its payload -- a Wideband Global SATCOM spacecraft -- are slated to blast off from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 9:24 p.m. EDT Tuesday. The launch window will extend until 10:01 p.m. Tuesday.

Forecasters at the Air Force 45th Space Wing Weather Squadron will be keeping close tabs on a cold front that is expected to sweep into northern Florida and then migrate into east central Florida on Tuesday. They say there is a 40 percent chance thick, electrically charged clouds or gusty ground winds could keep the Atlas V on the ground. In that case, the launch window on Wednesday would extend from 9:24 p.m. to 10 p.m.

You can check out all the details in the weather squadron's Official Launch Forecast.

Range safety officials are asking mariners to keep out of a launch hazard area off the coast of Cape Canaveral. The 29-mile-wide corridor stretches across 196 nautical miles of the Atlantic Ocean due east of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Here's a map of the Atlas Launch Hazard Area.

Aviators also are being warned to remain out of Restricted Airspace surrounding the launch base. Click on the hyperlink for a map.

Finally, you can keep track of of the countdown and check out the details on the Atlas payload here in this Atlas-WGS Mission Booklet from United Launch Alliance.

ABOUT THE IMAGE: Click to enlarge the photo of an Atlas launch that was taken from our blockhouse at the Launch Complex 39 Press Site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.