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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – United Launch Alliance will launch a U.S. national security mission using its Delta IV Heavy rocket early Saturday morning and it should be a treat for early risers because the heavy-lift rocket is a rare sight.
Liftoff, originally scheduled for early Thursday, will take place at 2:04 a.m. Saturday.
The launch will take place from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The current forecast from the 45th Space Wing shows an 80% chance of favorable launch weather for the four-hour window.
Inside the rocket’s nose cone is a spacecraft known as NROL-44, a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.
The first attempt was scrubbed due to an issue with a critical ground pneumatic control system. ULA officials said Friday an assessment of the issue was complete and the grounds system is working as it should.
The liftoff will mark the eighth for the Delta heavy for NRO missions, according to ULA. The private space company has another launch lined up for NRO sometime in September but that will be with Altas V, ULA’s workhorse rocket.
Last October, the heavy-lift rocket launched NASA’s Parker Solar Probe from Cape Canaveral on a mission to study the sun.
Ahead of the launch, ULA did something unusual with the rocket. It used the rocket and launch hangar as a backdrop to project an interactive video, known as 3D mapping.
The project took three years to complete because it’s a rocket with a national security payload on a base with restricted access. It’s the first time a real rocket has been used as a landscape for art, according to ULA. The idea came from ULA CEO Tory Bruno.
If ULA’s launch goes on time, it will be the first of three possible launches this weekend from the Space Coast. SpaceX has two launches planned, both for Sunday.
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August 29, 2020 at 06:02AM
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ULA Delta IV Heavy rocket ready to rumble early Saturday - WKMG News 6 & ClickOrlando
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