See a compilation of all 2017 rocket launch operations from the Space Coast. Emre Kelly / FLORIDA TODAY
Mission managers are meeting Tuesday to confirm their readiness for a Thursday night launch of an Atlas V rocket and U.S. missile warning satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Liftoff from Launch Complex 41 is targeted for 7:52 p.m., at the opening of a 40-minute window.
The mission would be United Launch Alliance’s second in a week, and first of the year from Florida, following last Friday’s flight of a Delta IV rocket from California.
The weather forecast is favorable, with only a 20 percent chance that cumulus clouds blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean might violate launch rules.
The odds are the same if the launch slips to Friday night.
If the readiness review concludes with a “go” to proceed, teams on Wednesday morning will roll the 194-foot Atlas V over rails from its processing tower about a quarter-mile to the launch pad.
On top of the rocket is the Air Force’s fourth Space Based Infrared System satellite bound for an orbit high over the equator.
Built by Lockheed Martin, the satellites carry scanning and staring sensors designed to provide early detection of missile launches and support intelligence gathering.
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