Astronauts open newly install Tranquility Module

The hatches leading into a new living compartment on board the International Space Station was opened tonight providing the crew an expanded area to exercise and live as earth's orbital outpost sails toward 2020.

Space station commander Jeffery Williams opened the hatches leading from the Unity module into the newly installed Tranquility node at 9:17 pm EST, and floated in along with space shuttle Endeavour's commander George Zamka, as the station flew 217 miles high over the Pacific Ocean just east of Australia.

The Italian-built Tranquility will serve as a U.S. section of the station, and will be the final American section added to the now 98% completed outpost.

Two hours later, the crews opened the hatch between the tranquility and the cuploa dome section - currently located on the opposite end of Tranquility's docked port.

The cupola will be a wonderful segment for the station crews. It is a dome segment with seven windows providing a 360-degree field of the earth and the space around the orbital complex. This will allow astronauts to have views of approaching spacecraft, orbital observations of both the earth and star fields, and give them a truley out of this world view.

Currently, station crew members use small port windows which measure about a foot across.

As Endeavour hangs docked to the space station, the total weight of the complex is now 1,011,500 pounds -- passing the 1 million pound mark for the first time this week.

Also tonight, Endeavour's protective thermal tiles were cleared for landing.

NASA's Mission Management Team chairman LeRoy Cain stated tonight, "The team has completed their analyses. We determined that Endeavour is cleared for entry. All the TPS is cleared and the vehicle is safe for deorbit, re-entry and landing."

Later tonight, Endeavour astronauts Robert Behnken and Nicholas Patrick will begin preparing for the start of the second planned spacewalk. They first will prepare a new space suit for Patrick after it was noted that the cooling fan on his suit did not work properly during Thursday night's spacewalk.

Endeavour's crew of six docked last Wednesday at midnight EST to the station, and will carry out two more spacewalks and will reposition the cupola to a new location on later tonight so that it faces earth.

Endeavour's Kay Hire will use the station's long robotic arm to grapple and slowly lift the cupola section several feet to the middle section of Tranquility. This will provide crews an improved view for earth observations.

Pilot Terry Virts and mission specialist Stephen Robinson round out Endeavour's crew.

The crews will begin their sleep period later this morning at 7:44 am, and awake eight hours later to begin a busy spacewalking day.

Endeavour is expected to undock this Thursday evening at 7:35 pm.

Astronauts unite Tranquility with the Space Station

(Updated at 1:25 am) -- Astronauts aboard the International Space Station spent overnight Thursday delivering and docking a new module which will greatly expand the living quarters of the orbital outpost in space.

While two spacewalking astronauts untethered the Tranquility node module from the payload bay of Endeavour, the crew inside the station worked its robotic arm to slowly lift the module from the bay and transitioned over to the Unity module on the station.

Tranquility is a pressurized cylindrical module with an internal width of nearly 16-feet and a length of 23 feet. It will serve as expanded living quarters for the crew.

Astronauts Robert Behnken and Nicholas Patrick switched their space suits onto internal power thus beginning their spacewalk at 9:17 pm EST this evening. They then left the Quest airlock to begin the first of three planned spacewalks of the STS-130 mission.

At 11:10 pm EST, astronaut Kay Hire began first motion in removing the Tranquility node from Endeavour's payload bay. Slowly and carefully lifting the module up and out over the shuttle's wing, the arm carried it over toward the Unity.

By midnight, the spacewalkers were nearly one hour ahead of their time line.

An hour later, at 1:04 am, Hire announced that the first stage of latching four bolts of Tranquility into Unity's left side port was complete.

Meanwhile, as one end of Tranquility was bolted to the station, the other end had the cupola dome temporarily docked. The cupola is a seven-window dome section which will give the station crew an out of this world 360-degree view of our universe. The cupola will be attached to the side of Tranquility with the help of the station's robotic arm on Sunday night.

Then at 1:20 am, Hire announced that the second series of 16 bolts had completely secured Tranquility to Unity as the orbital complex flew 217 miles over the west coast of Singapore.

The next task was for Behnken and Patrick to begin installing power and avionics cables between Unity and the new module.

On Friday night at about 9:14 pm, the crews will open the hatches from Unity into Tranquility and set foot inside a cold, dark school bus size module. The crew will enter wearing a miners headlight for better visibility as the work to get lighting turned on.

Russian Proton rocket launches Intelsat 16

(Updated 5:30 am) -- A Russian Proton rocket launched a new communications satellite into orbit tonight set to provide high definition broadcasting for the Latin American region.

The International Launch Services Proton M rocket lifted-off at 7:39 pm EST, Thursday (0039 GMT) or 6:39 am local time this morning from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Carrying the Intelsat 16 television satellite, the Proton departed a very cold, below zero launch complex 39 and climbed into a dark sky as it flew eastward powered by six RD-275 engines in a 360-degree formation.

Total lift-off weight of the fueled rocket was 1,523,000 million pounds. Proton's thrust at launch was 2,360,000 to compensate and be able to win the fight over gravity.

Two minutes into the flight, the first stage burned out and was jettisoned. The four engine second stage then fired for the next three and one-half minutes propelling the craft higher as it continued on it's 51 degree inclination.

After burning it's third stage, the Breeze-M upper stage began a series of four major burns to get the spacecraft closer to it's transfer orbit of 308 x 23,412 miles as the vehicle crossed over an area between northwest Africa and southern Europe.

After achieving a near geostationary orbit, the Breeze-M released Intelsat 16 at 5:14 am EST (1014 GMT) this morning as it flew high off Africa's east coast and above the equator. Intelsat 16 will begin a nearly 15 year mission in a few months providing HDTV services to Mexico and Brazil through SKY network, a division of DIRECTv.

Astronauts prepare for a dynamic spacewalk

The two crews aboard earth's orbital outpost will gear up for a busy day of spacewalks and space robotics as they bring a critical new module and a observation dome over from the space shuttle to a space station docking.

Endeavour, which docked to the International Space Station on Wednesday, brought up the Tranquility node and the cupola section in her payload bay. The Tranquility is a bus-size module which will provide living quarters and house the COLBERT treadmill. The cupola is a dome section which has seven windows providing a 360-degree out of this world view.

Both station and shuttle crew members were awoken at 4:14 pm EST this afternoon to kick-off a busy day which will see two astronauts perform a six and one-half hour orbital walk in support of the installation of Tranquility to the station.

Astronauts Nicholas Patrick and Bob Behnken will leave the space station's air lock and head to Endeavour's aft section of the payload bay. The will begin preparing Tranquility for it's removal using a 58-foot long station robotic arm.

The duo are scheduled to switch their pressure suits to internal power and head out of the Quest airlock at 9:09 pm (0209 GMT).

First, Patrick and Behnken will first remove a cover off an alignment camera on the station's Unity port in support of Tranquility's docking. They next will begin removing the covers off of seven windows which circle the dome-shaped cupola section in Endeavour's bay. At this point, the cupola is attached to the aft section of Tranquility.

The spacewalking duo will then disconnect umbilical cable between Tranquility and the orbiter which have provided power and life support to the node.

They will then turn their focus to the space station as they transition over and move a storage platform over to the P5 & P6 truss segment.

Shuttle crew member Kay Hire will then extend the station's arm out and grapple the Tranquility module, and slowly begin to rise it up and out of the bay. The 13.5 ton module with the cupola attached will be moved over to the Unity module for mating.

Once Tranquility had firmly docked, Patrick and Behnken will begin connecting avionics and

Once the Tranquility node is attached the space station (above on Tuesday night) the orbital complex will be 98% completed. There will be four more space shuttle flights after this mission which will see a new Russian segment, supplies and hardware to complete this beautiful human-made world in space.

VIDEO: Atlas 5 launches NASA's SDO craft

VIDEO: NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory launch today.

Atlas lofts NASA Solar Observatory into Space

(updated at 12:16 pm EST) -- A NASA satellite designed to study the Sun's effect on earth, including the occurrence of severe space weather, was carried aloft this morning by an Atlas rocket from America's Space Coast.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory will set the stage as the space agency begins a new program known as Living with a Star. The SDO will spend over five years studying earth's closest star, our Sun, and the solar weather it emits and it's traverse across space and upon earth.

The solar spacecraft lifted-off atop a United Launch alliance Atlas 5 rocket today at 10:23:01 am EST, from pad 41 her at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

A beautiful launch, the Atlas 5 lept from her ocean side pad going straight up an before tilting toward and easterly trajectory of 28.7 degrees inclination.

Climbing through thin clouds, the Atlas rocket's RD-180 engine burned for four minutes, 16 seconds before being jettisoned seconds later.


The protective cover over the spacecraft known as the payload fairing then split in half and separated on time.

The rocket's centaur upper stage then took over burning its RL10 engine for the next several minutes. This burn placed the spacecraft into orbital velocity. Thirteen minutes after launch, the Centaur-SDO stack was 2,040 miles east of the Cape at an altitude of 118 miles.

Following several more burns and correction firings by Centaur, the solar observatory separated at 12:11:48 pm.

It's solar arrays and antenna then deployed thus beginning the SDO's odyssey of the Sun and the solar weather it creates.

High Winds Scrub Atlas V Launch Today

High winds forced NASA to scrub the launch of an Atlas rocket this morning from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Launch has been retargeted for Thursday morning with a new launch time of 10:23 am EST. The launch window is one hour.

Wind speeds in excess of the 20 mph rule caused the Atlas launch team to delay the launch time three times before calling a scrub for the day one second after the count picked up at T-4 minutes.

Low clouds may be a concern tomorrow along America's Space Coast, thus the Air Force Meteorology group is forecasting 60% go for favorable weather.

SpaceLaunchNews.com will have LIVE TV of the prelaunch through spacecraft separation beginning at 8AM EST tomorrow.

Endeavour Arrives at the Space Station

(Updated at 2:20 am) -- Speeding around the earth at Mach 25, the space shuttle Endeavour met up with the International Space Station tonight to begin eight days of expanding the living quarters and resupplying earth's orbital outpost.

NASA's 130th space shuttle flight brings with it a new module which will expand the living quarters and an observation dome with an out of this world 360-degree view.

Endeavour's drive and approach to the space station was beautiful and on time. However, minutes prior to docking shuttle astronaut Steven Robinson noted that the ship's on board trajectory control sensor which feds the crew closing information began to deliver bad data. Robinson then grabbed the hand held laser to help check the ship's closing rate and range to the station.


Minutes later, Mission Control was noticeably missing the TCS as it asked the crew to cycle it, but the crew found comfort in the hand held laser and did not try to restart the TCS.

Endeavour followed a slow line of approach to it's docking port and contact to the space station occurred at 12:06 am EST this morning as the orbital duo flew 217 miles above the northeastern Atlantic Ocean off the Portugal coast.

However, the docking ring of Endeavour met with the station's docking ring misaligned on contact. When the two rings met, motion vibrations forced the rings to slide slightly and misalign. It took Mission Control nearly 50 minutes to get the two crafts docking rings aligned to begin the hard mate between the two crafts.

An hour prior to docking, Endeavour approached the space station in beautiful fashion.

A post-Columbia predocking maneuver began a few minutes early at 11:00 pm EST, as the orbital duo flew 220 miles east of the Philippines. Beautiful video was down linked from the station as shuttle skipper Zamka pitched Endeavour's nose up 180-degrees and held it with the belly facing station's cameras (below).


Then station commander Jeffery Williams and flight engineer Oleg Kotov used 800-mm and 400-mm digital cameras to take several hundred images from inside the Russian Zvezda module of the orbiter's underside. The images where then downlinked to Mission Control and the Johnson Space Center near Houston for analysis for any damage from it's Monday launch.

Endeavour's crew of six -- Zamka, pilot Terry Virts, and mission specialists Nicholas Patrick, Robert Behnken, Stephen Robinson and Kathryn Hire -- later joined the five member crew of earth's orbital outpost in space as the hatches opened at 2:16 am.

The two crews will work together during eight days of docked operations.

Also, with the addition of Endeavour, the space station now weighs 1,011,500 pounds -- passing the 1 million pound mark for the first time. Once Tranquility and cupola are attached later this week, the station will be 97% complete.

Endeavour nears Space Station Docking Tonight

The space shuttle Endeavour tonight is manuvering toward a docking with the International Space Station and the start of seven busy and constructive days in the program's history.

Endeavour spent Tuesday firing her jets and preparing on board equipment to raise her orbital altitude and decrease her speed which will bring the two together in a sort of orbital ballet 220 miles above earth.

The orbital docking ring -- located in the forward section of Endeavour's payload bay -- was extended this morning in support of mating the two vehicles together.

At 7:44 pm EST tonight, the space station could see the orbiter as a bright star 220 miles above northeastern China.

At 11:05 pm, Endeavour will be stopped in a postition 600-feet below the stattion. At this point , the shuttle will begin a 360-degree backflip near the station which will allow two station crewmembers to photograph the belly of the shuttle.

Known as the Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver, Station commander Jeffery Williams and flight engineer Oleg Kotov will use 800-mm and 400-mm digital cameras to take over a two hundred images from inside the Russian Zvezda module. Pictures will be taken at the start of the flip and through the point when the orbiter spends ten minutes holding its belly facing the space station's cameras.

It will be these pictures in which ground engineers will use to inspect the underside of Endeavour to look for any signs of tile damage following their Monday morning launch.

Endeavour's commander George Zamka will then begin a slow approach to the station as the shuttle moves payload bay in direction of travel toward a docking.

Docking is planned for 12:06 am EST on Wednesday morning... just hours from now.

Endeavour's Crew Inspects Thermal Tiles

The crew of the space shuttle Endeavour spent early today inspecting the outer protective skin of the orbiter looking for any damage as they fly closer to a docking with the International Space Station.

Using the ship's robotic arm with the Orbital Sensor Boom attached, the crew slowly moved the sensor section with a camera attached over nearly every inch of the thermal protective tiles and blankets. It is these areas which protect the shuttle from the extreme heat of reentry prior to landing.

Any type of small break or gouge in the thermal protection system could cause the area to burn through to the ship's metal hull upon reentry.

Meanwhile, the orbiter continued to close in on her port-of-call today, including a few engine firings to both raise it's orbital altitude and speed of closure.

Docking time is planned for 12:06 am on Wednesday morning.

At 7:20 am EST today, Endeavour was some 850 miles behind the space station, and closing at a rate of 104 miles per orbit.

Endeavour will spend one week docked to the orbital outpost, expanding the living volume as it adds the final American module.

Endeavour's Crew begins busy second day

The six person crew of the space shuttle Endeavour will focus on the careful inspection of the thermal tiles of the craft tonight to detirmin if ice or debris damaged any areas during launch this morning.

The crew awoke at 6:15 pm EST to the music of "Give Me Your Eyes" played for first time space flyer pilot Terry Virts.

Detailed launch video studies here at the Kennedy Space Center shows a nearly foot long section of insulation which broke free from the upper section of the shuttle's external fuel tank and might have hit the orbiter. Tonight's inspections will look to see if it was a strike.

NASA's 130th space shuttle mission lifted-off this morning at 4:14:08 am, beginning a 13 day mission to deliver new living quarters and a multi-window dome section which will support earth views and station operations.

Tonight, Endeavour's payload bay cameras showed beautiful views of the Italian-built Tranquility node in the mid section of the bay. (above image at 6:10 pm tonight)

Tranquility will serve as both sleeping quarters and gymnasium and provide extra storage of supplies brought up by unmanned cargo crafts.

NASA Solar Observatory set for Wednesday Launch

A NASA satellite will embark on a multi-year mission to research and the Sun's effect on earth, as well as the dynamics of the solar flares which create space weather.

The Solar Dynamics Observatory was cleared for launch aboard an Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, FL on Wednesday morning at 10:26:00 am EST. The launch window is one hour.

The spacecraft will operate using three science gathering instruments, and according to NASA when the amount of data starts to flow in it will get busy.

The main source of data collection will come from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly, or AIA. Using four photographic telescopes, AIA will focus on the Sun's atmosphere going all the way down to the surface photographing with much greater detail what it observes than on past solar missions.

SDO will send back nearly 1 GB of data about the solar weather every 36 seconds, according to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

"SDO is going to send us images ten times better than high definition television," says Dean Pesnell, the project scientist for the SDO mission. "A typical HDTV screen has 720 by 1280 pixels; SDO's images will have almost four times that number in the horizontal direction and five times in the vertical. “The pixel count is comparable to an IMAX movie -- an IMAX filled with the raging sun, 24 hours a day."

Pesnell also adds that the science team will receive "IMAX-quality images every ten seconds".

A second experiment The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) focuses on the outer shell of the Sun as it studies the magnetic field. The instrument will basically study the photosphere (Sun's surface) as it looks at the billions of ripples which move across the surface every day. These studies will help scientists at Stanford University work to figure out the Sun's internal makeup and activity.

SpaceLaunchNews.com will have LIVE launch coverage beginning at 8AM EST on Wednesday. Follow our updates via Twitter: @spacelaunchnews.

VIDEO: Endeavour's Beautiful Night Launch

SLN Video: Endeavour lifts-off this morning on STS-130

Endeavour Launches on Station Construction Flight

A new decade of space flight began this morning as the weather along America's space coast cleared and the space shuttle Endeavour lifted-off on a construction flight to the International Space Station.

Low clouds over the launch pad here at the Kennedy Space Center gave the launch control team the only concern as a second flawless countdown attempt marched along with no technical issues worked.

Basked in brilliant white xenon lights, Endeavour's main engines fired and it's twin rocket boosters came to life pushing NASA's 130th space shuttle flight up and into a cold, dark Florida sky.

Endeavour's twenty-fourth mission into space began at 4:14:08 am EST, this morning to begin a thirteen day flight to add new living quarters to the nearly completed space station.

It likely will be NASA's last night launch in the space shuttle program. Only four flights remain in the programs future.

Lift-off weight of the entire space shuttle stack was 4,521,961 pounds; of that 267,470 pounds was the weight of Endeavour and her on board payloads.

As Endeavour lept from her seaside launch pad, the space station was flying 212 miles over western Romania.

Just over two minutes into the launch, Endeavour's rocket boosters separated from the sides of the orange external fuel tank having emptied their solid fuel and boosting the orbiter to an altitude of 34 miles.

It was at just prior to booster separation that engineers spotted something fall off the ship's external tank.

"We saw a piece of inter tank stringer foam come off," stated NASA's chief of space flight operations Bill Gerstenmaier. "It's probably about a quarter inch thick; maybe about a foot or so long. It didn't appear to impact the orbiter and we see no damage to the orbiter. It's something similar to what we've seen before."

As Endeavour's main engines continued to drive the space craft in a northeastern direction up the U.S. eastern coastline, the ship's twin smaller engines fired for a brief time to give the heavy craft an added boost.


Seven minutes later, at 4:22:31 am, the orbiter was in a low earth orbit, shut down it's main engines and jettisoned it's huge external tank while flying off the Novia Scotia coast at an altitude of 84 miles.

The crew of six -- commander George Zamka, pilot Terry Virts, and mission specialists Nicholas Patrick, Robert Behnken, Stephen Robinson and Kathryn Hire -- will spend overnight Monday inspecting the orbiter's heat shield and looking for any tile damage which may have occurred at launch.

Hire is a native of Mobile, AL (my hometown) and was a KSC space shuttle technician for several years in the 1980's.

Endeavour's crew will then dock to the space station on Wednesday morning at 12:09 am EST, as the orbital duo passes over northern Spain.

Three spacewalks and a lot of robotics will then take place as both Endeavour's crew and the five member crew of station will work together to remove the Tranquility node and cupola section from the shuttle's payload bay and over to it's docking port on station.

Endeavour's crew are delivering the final American modules to the International Space Station -- the Italian-built Tranquility module and a 360-degree seven window cupola compartment.

Astronauts Behnken and Patrick will begin the first of three spacewalks on Feb. 11 at 9:09 pm. The six and one-half hour planned orbital walk will focus on getting Tranquility ready to be installed on the space station's Unity node. They will be disconnecting the Tranquility cables which will be connected to Endeavour's payload bay; and remove eight flight covers from the docking port of Tranquility.

Two hours into the midnight spacewalk, robotic arm operator Hire will unberth Tranquility from the orbiter at 10:49 pm, and slowly move it over for docking to Unity. Once docked to Unity's left (port) side, the spacewalkers will begin connecting several heating and avionics cables to the new module.

On Friday night (Feb. 12), both the space station and Endeavour's commanders will open the hatch at 9:14 pm and enter the new Tranquility module for the first time. Due to lack of lights, the crews will enter using headset flashlights.

Endeavour is expected to return home to the Space Coast on Feb. 20 at 10:01 pm, following 13 days in space.

Endeavour fueled for morning launch attempt

Endeavour was fueled tonight as the launch team here at the Kennedy Space Center make a second attempt to launch the first of five final space shuttle missions.

The orange colored external fuel tank went into stable replenish mode at 9:53 pm EST tonight after over 535,000 gallons of super cold liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen were filled into two separate inner tanks. The fuels mix together at launch to power the orbiter's main engines for nine minutes.

The current weather forecast calls for a chance of low clouds at launch time, thus the forecast is 60% go for launch.

Endeavour's crew of six will begin donning their launch and entry suits at 11:53 pm tonight, followed by the crew's departure for the launch pad at 12:24 am.

Commanding Endeavour's crew will be George Zamka who will be making his second trip to the space station. Terry Virts, who will serve as pilot, is making his first space flight. Mission Specialists Nicholas Patrick, Robert Behnken, Stephen Robinson and Kathryn Hire are all space veterans and round out the crew.

The crew will begin entering their spacecraft at just before 1:00 AM.

Endeavour will carry up the 7 meter-long Tranquility module and the dome shaped Cupola module. Tranquility is a pressurized cylindrical node (15 feet in diameter) which will house living quarters and serve as an exercise section of the station.

Weather Delays Sunday launch until Monday

Low clouds along America's Space Coast forced the launch team to scrub a Super Sunday launch of the space shuttle Endeavour and the launch team will try again on Monday.

NASA went into a 24-hour scrub turn around which will now retarget Endeavour's launch for Monday morning at 4:14:07 am EST, from launch pad 39-A here at the Kennedy Space Center.

"We tried really, really hard to work the weather. It was just too dynamic. We got to feeling good there at one point and then it filled back in and we just were not comfortable launching a space shuttle tonight," Launch Director Mike Leinbach told Endeavour's crew of the scrub ten minutes prior to the planned launch time.

The weather forecast is 60% favorable for a launch try tomorrow.

Just south of Endeavour's launch pad sits a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 which was scheduled to launch a NASA satellite on Tuesday. That launch of the Solar Dynamics Observatory has also been delayed one day and will fly Wednesday at 10:26 am.

One hour after the scrub, the six-member crew of Endeavour began to leave the shuttle's cockpit.

Led by commander George Zamka, Endeavour's 24th flight crew includes pilot Terry Virts, and mission specialists Kay Hire, Steven Robinson, Nicholas Patrick, and Robert Behnken.

Monday's early morning launch will also be the final planned night launch of a space shuttle in the program's history. The first night launch of a shuttle was Challenger's third flight in August 1983.

Once on orbit, Endeavour's crew will deliver the final American modules to the International Space Station -- the Italian-built Tranquility module and a 360-degree seven window cupola compartment.

Following an on-time launch, Endeavour will fly into an orbit lower than that of station to shorten the time it takes to catch-up with the orbital complex.

Once the orbiter nears the station, it will perform a back flip to allow the station's crew to photograph it's underside to check for any tile (or the thermal protection system) damage. On most launches ice and foam debris have struck the belly of the shuttle. A small 1/4-inch size of debris traveling at over 1000 mph can cause a serious dent or gouge on the ships surface.

Once the orbiter completes the back flip, Endeavour will fly in -- payload bay in the direction of travel -- for a docking to the space station. Docking is now planned for Wednesday morning at 12:53 am EST.

SpaceLaunchNews.com will have complete LIVE video coverage of the launch beginning at 11PM EST tonight. Stay tune throughout the mission for our updates and coverage. Follow our updates on your mobile device via Twitter: @spacelaunchnews.

NASA Administrator Bolden addresses the media

New NASA administrator Charles F. Bolden addressed the media here at the Kennedy Space Center this morning, answering questions about the space agency's future following President Obama's cancellation of the Constellation program.

Wearing a sports jacket and black turtleneck, a relaxed and upbeat Mr. Bolden answered our questions on the shutdown of the Constellation program and exactly what is America's future for placing humans in space -- both low earth orbit and beyond.

"We don't have a replacement for shuttle", Bolden exclaimed. "I'm uncomfortable having Soyuz as our (craft) starting at the end of this year."

The Constellation program was planned as NASA's attempt to carry humans back to the International Space Station beginning in 2015, and five years later to a landing on the Moon.

The Obama Administration cancelled the program a week ago.

Bolden did outline what he calls a Flexible Path which would see America journey to the Moon, then Mars, and decades later an Asteroid.

Plans now have NASA contracting out to several private companies to create several new launch vehicles which will return Americans to station in a few years, and to the Moon by 2025.

Bolden discussed that the current contract with the Russian Space Agency to fly one American to the station on each Soyuz craft begins later this year and runs through 2013.

Bolden touched on the urgency on the race back to the Moon: "I'm not concerned (if China or Brazil lands) because they'll be joining six American flags". He addressed the media with thoughts directed at what America has done with the Apollo program, and at the same time he seemed lost with exactly how America was going back and when.

The administrator also touched on future astronauts and their dirction through the 2010's and beyond as the space shuttle program ends.

"Some (astronauts) will stay around because they want to be a part of the development of the next generation spacecraft and the next generation capability," he stated. "We need to have the discussion of what the future... the next generation of astronauts will be like, and our international partners have a lot to say about that, because they happen to like the elite astronaut corps. So, we need to have the discussion of how important it is to have a career astronaut contingent as opposed to none."

Bolden's news conference comes some 18 hours prior to the scheduled launch of the first of five final space shuttle flights.

Bolden was asked and spoke of the concerns of the loss of jobs both here on the Space Coast and in other aerospace divisions which were supporting the upstart of Constellation.

His comments addressed the need to retire shuttle and have the private sector create a new stle of spacecraft and launcher, which will likly borrow on the knoweledge of the Ares 1 rocket.

Bolden started his first day on the job as the head of the space agency on July 17.

Endeavour Revealed for Launch Sunday Morning

The massive steel protective cover which houses the space shuttle from the weather elements was moved back away from Endeavour this morning in preparation for her launch on Sunday morning.

Beginning at 8:06 am EST, the rotating service structure began it's move, exposing a beautiful white dove upon her pad.


Launch of Endeavour on NASA's 130th space shuttle flight is set for Super Sunday at 4:39:50 am EST. The launch window is a brief five minutes.

Weather remain at 80% favorable at launch time.

Iran reports launch of Kavoshgar rocket to space

Iran reported this morning that it launched a Kavoshgar-3 rocket with live test animals. The below story is courtesy Cable News Network:

(CNN) -- Iran said Wednesday it had launched a rocket carrying a rodent, two turtles and some worms into orbit, claiming it as a successful advance in a space program that has raised international concerns.

The official Islamic Republic News Agency said the "home-built" Kavoshgar-3, or Explorer-3 rocket was launched at a ceremony to commemorate this month's anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that overthrew Iran's monarchy.

Iran, which is trying to contain a political crisis after violent protests erupted following the disputed re-election of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is expected to mount a series of high profile events to mark the anniversary.

State-run Press TV quoted Iranian Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi declaring the launch a success and describing Iran's space program as "peaceful."

"Iran will not tolerate any un-peaceful use [of space] by any country," he said.

Last year the U.S. State Department expressed "grave concern" over Iran's announcement it was planning a series of satellite launches.

"Developing a space launch vehicle that could... put a satellite into orbit could possibly lead to development of a ballistic missile system," State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood said at the time. "So that's a grave concern to us."

The Pentagon called the plan "clearly a concern of ours."

"Although this appears to be [a] satellite, there are dual-use capabilities that could be applied to missiles, and that's a concern to us and everybody in region," Defense Department spokesman Geoff Morrell said at the time.

The United States is among nations expanding sanctions against Tehran amid concerns over Iran's test-firing of long-range missiles capable of reaching European and Israeli targets, and a program of uranium enrichment.

IRNA said the rocket launched Wednesday was "designed to send consecutive aerial images to ground and measure environmental information."

Press TV quoted Iranian space officials saying live video transmission and telemetry allowed the rat or mouse -- named Helmz-1 -- turtles and worms to be monitored during their space voyage.

The Fars news agency said later Wednesday that the animals had returned to Earth and were being studied by scientists.

In August 2008, a claim by Iran that it had successfully launched a vehicle capable of carrying a satellite into orbit were dismissed by the Pentagon, which said the rocket had been too unstable to leave the Earth's atmosphere.

Russian Soyuz U launch Space Station Supplies

A Russian rocket lifted-off on time this morning carrying fresh supplies and fuel for the five member crew of the International Space Station.

A Soyuz U LV rocket launched into the beautiful, but cold blue skies of Baikonur Cosmodrome in western Kazakhstan at 10:45:30 pm EST Tuesday evening (345 GMT) or 9:45:30 am Baikonur time this morning.

The rocket darted upward and eastward out toward Mongolia carrying the Progress M-04M unmanned supply vehicle -- the 36th cargo filled vehicle bound for the space station.

Loaded with some 5,600 pounds of supplies such as fuel, water, food, personal crew items, experiments and hardware, the Progress solar arrays deployed minutes after reaching orbit.

Following a two day orbital ballet and rendezvous, the Progress is scheduled to automatically dock with the Russian Zevezda service module section of the station on Thursday evening at 11:26 pm EST (426 GMT).

Space station Russian cosmonauts Maxim Suraev and Oleg Kotov will assist with the cargo ship's docking, and take over manually if the auto sequencer fails to bring the ship into a proper docking alignment.

Commander Jeffery Williams and Flight Engineers Soichi Noguchi (Japan) and T.J. Creamer round out the space station's Expedition 22 crew of five.

Endeavour poised for a Super Bowl Sunday Launch

NASA-KSC image

NASA's thirty-second space shuttle flight in support of construction of the International Space Station is set to lift-off this Sunday morning on a two week flight.

Endeavour's six-person crew will deliver and hook-up two major components to the station which will extend the amount of living quarters as the station begins its second and final decade on orbit. Two of Endeavour's crew members will perform three spacewalks beginning on the fifth day of the mission.

Launch of the 130th space shuttle flight is planned for Super Bowl Sunday - February 7 - at 4:39:44 am EST, from launch pad 39-A here at the Kennedy Space Center. The launch window is only five minutes.

Commanding Endeavour's crew will be George Zamka who will be making his second trip to the space station. Terry Virts, who will serve as pilot, is making his first space flight. Mission Specialists Nicholas Patrick, Robert Behnken, Stephen Robinson and Kathryn Hire are all space veterans and round out the crew.

Endeavour will carry up the 7 meter-long Tranquility module and the dome shaped Cupola module. Tranquility is a pressurized cylindrical node (15 feet in diameter) which will house living quarters and serve as an exercise section of the station.

Endeavour is set to dock to Earth's orbital outpost on Tuesday morning, Feb. 9 at 1:18 am EST.

Following an on time Sunday launch, astronauts Behnken and Patrick will begin the first of three spacewalks on Feb. 10 at 10:39 pm. The six and one-half hour planned orbital walk will focus on getting Tranquility ready to be installed on the space station's Unity node. They will be disconnecting the Tranquility cables which will be connected to Endeavour's payload bay; and remove eight flight covers from the docking port of Tranquility.

Two hours into the midnight spacewalk, robotic arm operator Hire will unberth Tranquility from the orbiter (~12:15 am Feb. 11) and slowly move it over for docking to Unity. Once docked to Unity, the spacewalkers will begin connecting several heating and avionics cables to the new module.

On Thursday night (Feb. 11), both the space station and Endeavour's commanders will open the hatch and enter the new Tranquility module for the first time.

Endeavour is expected to return home to the Space Coast on Feb. 19 at 11:13 pm, following 14 days in space. This flight will also mark the the first of the final five flights in the space shuttle program.

Endeavour moved to her launch pad today

The space shuttle Endeavour was moved out to her seaside launch pad this morning in preparation for her February construction flight to the International Space Station.

Endeavour, attached to her two white rocket boosters and rust colored external fuel tank, began her move a top mobile launcher platform #2 out to launch pad 39-A at 4:13 am EST, under a bitterly cold 32 degree temperature.

Moving at top speeds of 1 m.p.h. down a gravel laiden road designed to support the massive weight of the crawler transport, the move to the pad concluded at 10:37 am.

NASA's first shuttle flight of the year is planned for February 7 at 4:39 am EST.

Endeavour and her crew of six will deliver the final two U.S. sections for the space station - the Tranquility module and a 360-degree window view node.

Endeavour's flight will mark the first of the final five shuttle missions ever.

NASA's youngest orbiter -- which first flew in 1992 -- was attached to her boosters and huge fuel tank days before Christmas.

VIDEO: Tonight's successful Proton-M launch

An ILS Proton-M rocket launches the DirecTV-12 satellite tonight.

Russian Proton rocket launches DirecTV satellite

A new satellite which will increase the amount of high definition channels DirecTV offers arrived in orbit tonight, and will spend the next several hours moving into a permanent position to service the United States this spring.

An International Launch Services Proton-M rocket lifted-off on time at 7:22 pm EST tonight (0022 GMT Tuesday morning) from a chilly pad 39 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome and into an overcast sky.

The silver 191-foot tall Proton launched into the cold night sky on the final space shot of 2009, and flew eastward out of Kazakhstan and over Mongolia. Two minutes into the flight, the first stage separated from the upper stage.

Spacecraft separation is planned for 4:32 am EST (3:32 pm Baikonur time) on Tuesday.

The seventh ILS Proton launch of the year carried the Boeing-built DirecTV 12 will provide expanded high definition channels for the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii.

The satellite will use two huge Ka-band refelctors -- each measuring nearly 3 meters in diameter -- for the reception and transmission of over 200 cable channels.

Since 1994, Boeing has built 11 satellites for DirecTV.

Proton-M prepares for Monday night launch

On a cold, frosty Christmas morning at the Yuzhny Space Center in Kazakhstan, a Russian Proton-M rocket was transfered to launch pad 39 in preparation for it's night launch on the morning of December 29th (local time).

The snow covered space center was a beautiful touch to a desert region as the Proton was moved by railway. Thank-you to S.Sergeev at Yuzhny for the great images and read our story below)


SpaceLaunchNews.com will carry the prelaunch through ascent LIVE beginning at 7PM EST on Monday evening (0:00 GMT on Tuesday morning).

Russian Proton to Launch DirecTV Satellite Monday

A Russian rocket will deliver to orbit a telecommunications satellite for the Americas next week as the final earth launch of the year.

A new DirecTV satellite will support broader high definition broadcasts to the United States, and increase the amount of HD channels DirecTV carries. Built by Boeing Space, the spacecraft will orbit in geostationary orbit, and will support an additional 200-plus HD channels for the broadcast company.

Liftoff of the Proton M rocket (UR-500) with the DirecTV-12 satellite is planned for December 28th at 7:22 pm EST (0022 GMT Dec. 29) from pad 39 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

The 1.55 million pound Proton M's launch profile will see the rocket fly eastward over Kazakhstan, neighboring Mongolia and eastern China before sailing over the Korean peninsula and southern Japan. It's orbital inclination will then carry it over the southern Pacific Ocean and then up toward South America.

The Proton's first stage -- which supports six liquid fueled RD-276 engines and a core engine -- will burn from launch until just prior to stage separation at T+2 minutes. The second stage will then burn three RD-0210 engines for the next 206 seconds of the flight. The rocket's third stage will next take over to carry the satellite into low earth orbit.

A series of five burns will then raise the craft's orbit ever higher to it's geo-transfer orbit.

Spacecraft separation from it's kick motor is scheduled to occur nine hours, ten minutes post-launch over southern Somalia, Africa, in an initial orbit of 3,181 x 22,236 miles.

Designed to operate for 15 years, the DirecTV satellite will become operational by March and operate over the equator at a planned position of 102.8 west longitude.

The 131-transponder DirecTV-12 spacecraft was mated to the Proton's adapter on December 13. A day later, the adapter was then mated to the rocket's Breeze-M upper stage, according to International Launch Services.

Monday's launch will be the seventh ILS Proton launch of 2009, and only the 56th Proton launch for ILS overall.

Christmas Crew of Five aboard Space Station

Carrying a small decorated Christmas tree and wearing a red Santa cap, Soyuz commander Kotov entered the space station at 7:35 pm EST tonight, followed by elf's Creamer and Noguchi, and beginning their six month stay in space.

Hatch opening occurred at 7:30 pm this evening (3:30 am Moscow time) as the station passed 220 miles above the central Atlantic Ocean.

As quickly as the crew of entered the orbital outpost, they were ordered back inside their newly arrived Soyuz TMA-17 craft so that Russia's Mission Control could properly video record the crew's ingress into the station.

Minutes later, Mission Control in Moscow told the crew to go back again and to video record the crew's holiday dressed entrance into the space station for a third time.

As the minutes then went by with the Soyuz crew inside their space taxi again, the station's commander Jeff Williams and flight engineer Max Surave began to get a bit impatient with the staging of the ceremony.

"If we wait to much longer then the guys will get their feelings hurt and not want to come out," Surave radioed Moscow.

New crew members arrive at Space Station

Three new crew members arrived at their port-of-call tonight as a Russian Soyuz craft docked with earth's orbital outpost.

A Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft docked with the Russian Zarya section of the International Space Station at 5:48:20 pm EST (1:48 am Moscow time) this evening 220 miles off the east coast of southern Brazil.

"Welcome to station, guys, your home for six months," Williams stated ten minutes later.

Soyuz commander Oleg V. Kotov brought the craft into a slow approach with the station to 150 meters prior to docking. An automatic docking system piloted the Soyuz to Zarya earth-facing port minutes ahead of schedule.


Joining Kotov inside the Soyuz is American astronaut Timothy J. Creamer and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi. All three are just two days into their six month journey upon the ocean of space.

The space trio will join current station crew members, Expedition 22 Commander Jeffery Williams and Flight Engineer Maxim Suraev, who have been aboard the space station since October 2.

Kotov, who will serve as flight engineer during the Expedition 22, and in March assume the title of station commander as the Expedition 23 timeline begins with the Soyuz TMA16 undocking on March 18th.

Russian cosmonauts Suraev and Kotov on January 14 will perform a spacewalk and complete some work outside of the Poisk module which is connected to the Zvezda module.

Kotov, Creamer and Noguchi will undock from station aboard the Soyuz TMA 17 for the trip back to earth this May.

Hatch opening could occur as early as 7:35 pm EST.

Expedition 22 crew headed for Space Station

images via NASA & energia

The 22nd expedition crew is bound for the International Space Station.

On a beautiful, cold evening in Kazakhstan at the Baikonur Cosmodrome tonight, an American, Russian and Japanese astronaut boarded their Soyuz spacecraft and lifted-off toward a holiday link-up with earth's orbital outpost in space.

As a crescent Moon hung over the space center, American astronaut Timothy (T.J.) Creamer, Russian cosmonaut Oleg V. Kotov and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi boarded their Soyuz TMA-17 craft perched a top a Soyuz FG LV rocket at pad 1 two hours before launch.

As the countdown reached zero, fuel and support arms retracted away from the 151-foot tall rocket. The Soyuz FG's four liquid fueled boosters and core main engine ignited on time launching the international crew of three upward at 4:52 pm EST (2152 GMT) from it's pad.

As the Soyuz launched, the Space Station flew 224 statue miles over the southern coast of Chilie, South America.

Two minutes into the rocket's climb to orbit, the boosters emptied their fuel and were jettisoned. Seven minutes later, the craft was in low earth orbit of 125 statue miles.

Creamer is making his first trip into space, while Kotov and Noguchi are each making their second visit to the space station.

After completing 34 orbits of the earth, the Soyuz TMA17 will make a slow approach to the station and dock to the Russian Zarya module on Tuesday. Docking time is planned for 5:54 pm EST (1:54 am Moscow time), however docking will likely happen a few minutes earlier than planned based on the quickness of their orbital rendezvous.

Once docked, the trio will join Expedition 22 Commander Jeffery Williams and Flight Engineer Maxim Suraev who have been aboard the space station since October 2.

Russian Soyuz to carry new crew to Station

The two-man crew of the International Space Station will receive three new crew mates in a few days as a Russian Space Agency Soyuz rocket prepares for launch on Sunday.

American Jeffery Williams and Russian Maxim Suraev have been alone 222 miles above earth aboard the station for the last few weeks, and they are looking forward to the Soyuz's arrival on Tuesday.

American astronaut T.J. Creamer, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi will begin a six month voyage upon the vast ocean of space as members of both the station's Expedition 22 and 23 crews.

The Soyuz FG rocket (above, on Dec. 18) with the Soyuz TMA 17 spacecraft will lift-off on Sunday at 4:52 pm EST, (2152 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

After a two day orbital chase to catch up with the space station, the TMA 17 will slowly move in and dock with the PIERS segment at 5:54 pmEST (22:54 GMT) on Tuesday.

Included with the international crew of three will be fresh supplies such as food, water, experiments, and small hardware in support of station operations.

Between now and February, the orbital outpost will see a lot of activity as the Soyuz docks; an unmanned Russian Progress 36P cargo ship docks on Feb. 5; and the space shuttle Endeavour arrives on Feb. 9 with the massive Tranquility module and the Cupola section.

SpaceLaunchNews.com will carry the launch LIVE beginning at 4PM EST (2100 GMT) on Sunday. Follow us via Twitter via @spacelaunchnews.

VIDEO: Ariane 5 Launches HELIOS 2B Today

VIDEO: Today's Ariane 5 launch from Kourou, SA with HELIOS 2B.

Twice delayed Ariane 5 Successfully Launches

Just in time for the Holidays, an Ariane 5 lifted-off from South America today giving Arianespace a celebration as they conclude the year with seven successful flights and their 30th year in the launch business.

The Ariane 5 GS fired it's core engine and rocket boosters and launched from pad ELA-3 at the Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana at 11:26:07 am EST, today (1626 GMT) into a blue sky.

The 151-foot heavy lift launcher rose with it's mighty Vulcain 1B main engine and three solid fueled boosters north out over the Atlantic waters.

This 193rd Ariane rocket sat thru two launch scrubs in the last two weeks due to technical issues.

Today's launch was the third "GS" configured Ariane 5 rocket, the previous two GS flights having flown in 2007.

The HELIOS 2B was deployed into a Sun-synchronous polar orbit as the observatory orbits the earth from pole to pole. This orbital path will allow for it to have a larger coverage region of the globe.

The satellite will be used by multiple European counties to create maps of uncharted regions and create 3-D landscape images for better intelligence for the countries of France, Greece, Belgium, Italy and Spain.

HELIOS was built by several European aerospace companies such as Thales Alenia Space, with EADS Astrium as the prime contractor.

Ariane 5's launch today was the 35th back-to-back successful launch of an Ariane 5; and also marked it's 49th flight with the 50th flight now planned for February.

Ariane 5 mission to try again Today

A third launch try is underway at the Spaceport in Kourou, South America this morning as the launch team works to launch an Ariane 5 on a record seventh flight in one calendar year.

Launch time is planned for 11:26:07 am EST, and there is no launch window for this precise French military mission.

A launch attempt of the 150-foot rocket on Thursday was thwarted in the final six minutes of the count by an unknown technical issue.

Ariane 5's seventh launch of '09 set for Thursday

A European Space Agency rocket is set to carry a French military observation satellite into earth orbit on Thursday following a one week launch delay due to an issue with the rocket's core stage liquid helium plumbing.

The HELIOS 2B satellite was built for the French Ministry of Defense, and will orbit the earth as a military observatory to keep track of world activities.

The Ariane 5 GS rocket is set to make it's seventh launch of the year from the Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on Thursday, December 17 at 11:26:07 am EST.

Ariane 5 will launch from the northern South American coastline and steer north-northeast out over the northern Atlantic Ocean. Ariane's second stage will then carry the satellite over the eastern section of Quebec, Canada and up the latitudes toward the north pole region at T+26 minutes, 33 seconds.

Spacecraft separation should occur on time at 12:25:23 pm EST, near western Australia.

The HELIOS 2B will be deployed into a Sun-synchronous polar orbit. As the observation satellite orbits the earth from pole to pole, it will have a larger coverage region of the globe.

The satellite will wear many hats as it maps uncharted regions and create 3-D landscape images for better intelligence for the countries of France, Greece, Belgium, Italy and Spain.

HELIOS was built by several European aerospace companies such as Thales Alenia Space, with EADS Astrium as the prime contractor.

Ariane 5 will mark it's 49th launch on Thursday; and this will also mark the 193rd Ariane rocket flight

Infrared Telescope launches to study the Universe

images NASA/VAFB

A new NASA telescope with the ability to detect faint light from stars and other bodies in the universe departed earth this morning to begin a seven month mission to learn more about our celestrial neighbors.

A United Launch Alliance Delta II-7320 rocket lifted-off under a cloudy California sky this morning at 6:09:33 am PST (9:09 am EST) from Vandenberg Air Force Base, carrying aloft NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer telescope.

Powered by three solid rocket boosters and a core stage main engine, the Delta II launched into the predawn sky and into a southern trajectory out over the Pacific Ocean.

As the Delta raced to take WISE into polar orbit, it's three boosters emptied their propellant 64 seconds into the launch at an altitude of 9 nautical miles, and 35 seconds later were dropped from the sides of the rocket as it moved just over two times the speed of sound.

Following main stage separation and several second stage burns, the WISE spacecraft left the rocket to begin it's own journey of discovery as it raced over northwestern Madagascar at 7:04:53 am PST at a speed of Mach 22.3.

Once WISE is operational in a few weeks it will begin to conduct surveys of the earth's night. Using it's very sensitive infrared telescope, WISE will be able to detect faint light levels in the Universe such as brown dwarfs; luminous galaxies; and distant lights as WISE provides a astronomical road map for the soon to be launched James Webb space telescope.

NASA WISE infrared telescope to Launch Monday

A new NASA satellite will begin a six month long mission this weekend as it aims it's infrared telescope out toward deep space and peers out to uncover new galaxies, asteroids and stars.

Lift-off of a United Launch Alliance Delta II-7320 rocket has been rescheduled for Monday, December 11th at 9:09:36 am EST, from Vandenberg, AFB in California. The launch window is 14 minutes.

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) will scan our section of the universe with it's very sensitive IR telescope looking for a glow ommitted from the millions of objects near to Earth and thousands of light years away.

Brown dwarf stars are dim stars which NASA hopes will be seen with greater quality as WISE takes a infared image and scientists back on earth study the glow of the object.

VIDEO: Tonight's Delta IV ULA Launch Highlights

Delta IV launches from Cape Canaveral tonight @ 8:47 pm EST.

Delta IV Launches Advanced Air Force Satellite

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket waited out multiple launch delays this week and lifted-off at the last minute tonight on a successful flight to deliver an advanced military communications satellite into orbit.

Weather and a technical glitch delayed this 11th launch of a Delta IV by several days, and again high winds pushed the launch time this evening from the the first minute of the launch window to the final minute.

The third Delta IV launch of the year ignited her main core engine and four solid rocket boosters and departed Florida's Space Coast at 8:47 pm EST, with the Air Force's Wideband Global SATCOM 3 satellite.

As the white and rust-orange colored Delta IV climbed higher into the dark Atlantic sky, the four rocket boosters -- having burned it's propellant -- dropped two at a time from the core main stage 104 seconds into the flight. The vehicle was passing through 22 nautical miles altitude at the time.

The RS-68 main engine continued it's burn for another two minutes & 25 seconds as it flew south eastward out over the Atlantic Ocean and toward the west coast of central Africa.

The WGS-3 separated from the Delta's upper stage on time as it flew 1,415 nm over northeastern Angola, Africa at 9:27:39 pm.

The WGS-3 is more than a high tech communications relay satellite, but a high speed data transfer relay. It will be able to transmit data packets at speeds between 2.4 and 3.6 gigabytes per second.

The spacecraft will ba able to cover 19 regions of the eastern hemisphere, and will operate in the 500 Mhz X-band and the 1 GHz of the Ka-band.

Air Force High Speed Satellite set for Launch

A highly advanced United States military communications satellite will head into orbit tonight aboard a Delta IV rocket, giving the troops on ground and in the air a faster data network to communicate.

The Wideband Global SATCOM 3, or WGS-3, is the third in a series of space-based communication relays to assist field troops in the middle eastern regions and Afghanistan.

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV is scheduled to launch from complex 37 here at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Saturday at 7:23 pm EST. The launch window is open for 83 minutes.

This Delta IV- M(edium) flight will launch with four solid rocket boosters and a RS-68 engine in the core of the rocket.

The RS engine will ignite five seconds before T-0, followed by the four boosters igniting at zero.

The 13,200-pound spacecraft will fly into a supersynchronous transfer orbit of 237 x 36,167 nautical miles following separation from the Delta's upper stage. The satellite's separation will take place over northern Madagascar at T+40 minutes, 53 seconds into the flight. Orbital inclination will be 24 degrees.

The WGS-3 is more than a high tech communications relay satellite, but a high speed data transfer relay. It will be able to transmit data packets at speeds between 2.4 and 3.6 gigabytes per second.

The spacecraft will ba able to cover 19 regions of the eastern hemisphere, and will operate in the 500 Mhz X-band and the 1 GHz of the Ka-band.

This weekend's launch will mark the 11th launch of a Delta IV rocket since it's first flight in November 2002.

This Delta IV flight will also mark the 36th launch of a ULA supported flight in the last 36 months. ULA was formed in December 2006 with the coming together of Lockheed Martin and The Boeing Company. ULA supports both Delta II & IV and Atlas V launch campaigns.

SpaceLaunchNews.com will cover the launch of the Delta IV beginning at 6:55 pm EST, on Saturday. Also, follow us via Twitter: @spacelaunchnews for live updates to your phone.

Delta IV launch scrubbed due to Weather

Launch of a Delta IV rocket was scrubbed this evening due to mid-level clouds and a technical issue at the pad here on America's Space Coast.

The plan now is to work toward a new launch try on Friday evening at 7:22 pm EST -- the opening of an 83-minute launch window.

The launch team waited through the entire 81-minute launch window before making the call to stand down for the night at 8:34 pm EST. Weather does not look favorable for tomorrow evening as a weather system continues to bring rain and low clouds to the Cape Canaveral region.

A new high speed communications satellite for the United States Air Force is the payload for this flight.