SLN VIDEO: Atlas V WGS-2 Launch Highlights

ULA Atlas V Liftsoff from Cape Canaveral Tonight

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V departed from Cape Canaveral this evening on a mission for the United States Air Force to deploy a communications satellite which will assist the military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Launch from complex 41 here at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station occurred at 8:31 pm EDT, following a smooth countdown which saw just a couple of slight issues.

Two minutes, 22 seconds into the launch profile, the Atlas V solid rocket boosters separated from the core stage as the rocket moved above an altitude of 30 miles, traveling 4,500 mph.

At 9:02 pm, word from Mission Control came that "we have spacecraft separation" from the Centaur upper stage.

T-04 minutes and Counting... Atlas V is GO

Tonight's launch of the Atlas V with the Wideband Global SATCOM 02 remains GO just under 4 minutes until liftoff from Launch Complex 41. Weather: Temp. 77 F; scattered clouds at 5,000 and 10,000 feet. Humidity 70%.

Atlas V Fueling Underway at the Cape

Fueling is underway this evening in support of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V with it's centaur upper stage, as liftoff approaches at 8:31 pm EDT.

Winds gusting near 20 mph here on the Atlantic coast are expected to die down after Sunset. The countdown just picked up at the T-minus 2 hour mark.

Atlas V Set for Friday Cape Canaveral Launch

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V-016 was moved back to her launch pad by the Atlantic Ocean here at Cape Canaveral AFS for its scheduled launch tomorrow night on a mission to deploy a military satellite.

The 19-story tall Atlas rocket began its nearly 1,800-foot move to Launch Complex 41 this morning and was hard down on its pad at about 9:35 am EDT.

Liftoff is scheduled for Friday night at 8:31 pm EDT. The launch window extends until 9:33 pm. SpaceLaunchNews.com will have LIVE launch coverage of the Atlas flight beginning at 8:10 pm - tune in here!

Atlas will take into geostationary orbit the Wideband Global SATCOM - 2 communications satellite for the United States Air Force. WGS-02 will replace aging DSCS satellites and improve the way the air and ground military's navigate and communigate in one corner of the world. Eventually, about a dozen WGS satellites will be on orbit.

Launch was targeted for March 31st, however the launch was called off by the launch team so that a few more tests could be run on the recently replaced leaky fuel valve on the centaur upper stage.

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Atlas V Cape Launch Delayed until April 3

UPDATE: United Launch Alliance and the Air Force has delayed Tuesday evening's planned launch of an Atlas V-016 from here at Cape Canaveral AFS until a No Earlier Than April 3 launch, due to a suspect valve which was replaced and now is in need of more tests.

According to the Air Force in a statement (180309) released earlier this morning, "During the past two weeks, the Atlas V vehicle was rolled back into the Space Launch Complex-41 Vertical Integration Facility and the suspect valve was replaced. The rescheduling of the mission gives the launch team the time to ensure the WGS-2 mission is ready for a second launch attempt."

The Air Force's Wideband Global SATCOM-2 satellite is the payload which Atlas V will boost to a position above the equator, and is the next in a series of WGS satellites intended to speed up data relays to between two to four gigabytes per second, from around the globe.