Atlas 5 Rocket Prepared for Friday NRO Launch Written 13 November 2020
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket rolls to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. | Credit: United Launch Alliance; NASA
Spaceflight Now reports that the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket “made its third trip to a Cape Canaveral launch pad Thursday, rolling into position for liftoff Friday afternoon with a classified payload for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency.” The US Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron issued a forecast Thursday morning that indicates a 90 percent chance of favorable weather conditions for the launch with cumulus clouds being the primary weather concern. The NROL-101 mission “will launch a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, which owns the U.S. government’s fleet of intelligence-gathering surveillance satellites.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)