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Rocket: Atlas 5 Payload: AEHF 2 Date: May 4, 2012 Window: 2:42 to 4:42 p.m. EDT (11:42 a.m. - 1:42 p.m. PDT) Launch Site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral, Florida After helium purge problem kept the Atlas 5 rocket on the pad Thursday afternoon, a second launch attempt is getting underway today to deploy a sophisticated and critical communications spacecraft for the U.S. government. The countdown clocks just began ticking, beginning a seven-hour sequence of work that will prepare the rocket, payload and ground systems for today's blastoff at 2:42 p.m. EDT (1842 GMT). The day's two-hour launch window stretches to 4:42...

If on the west coast, launch time scheduled for 11:38am-1:38pmLaunch Site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will launch the second Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite built by Lockheed Martin. This U.S. military spacecraft will provide highly secure communications.

Rocket: Atlas 5 Payload: AEHF 2 Date: May 3, 2012 Window: 2:46 to 4:46 p.m. EDT Site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral, Florida Feed: SES 2, Transp. 21, C-band, 87° West Watch live coverage here: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av031/status.html or here: http://www.ulalaunch.com/site/pages/Webcast.shtml Welcome to liftoff day for the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket carrying the Air Force's next durable and secure communications satellite in the Advanced Extremely High Frequency series. The countdown clocks are starting to tick right now, beginning a seven-hour sequence of work that will prepare the rocket, payload and ground systems for today's blastoff at 2:46 p.m. EDT (1846 GMT). Soon...

secretive military spacecraft resembling a small space shuttle orbiter is undergoing final processing in Florida for launch on April 19. The Air Force confirmed the critical preflight milestone in a response to written questions on Thursday. The 29-foot-long, 15-foot-wide Orbital Test Vehicle arrived in Cape Canaveral, Fla., last month according to the Air Force. The OTV spaceplane was built at a Boeing Phantom Works facility in Southern California. Managed by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, the OTV program is shrouded in secrecy, but military officials occasionally release information on the the spaceplane's progress. "It is now undergoing spacecraft processing...

NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto is proceeding toward launch on Jan. 19. The launch opportunity runs from 1:08 p.m. - 3:07 p.m. EST. A power outage this morning at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland, where the spacecraft will be operated in flight, had led mission managers to postpone today's launch attempt at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Power has since been restored to the Laboratory campus; the New Horizons Mission Operations Center has both primary and backup power and is ready to support tomorrow's launch.

The Atlas 5 rocket was moved from its assembly building to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 Wednesday night as the countdown continues for this morning's liftoff to send the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to the Red Planet. Launch remains scheduled for 7:50 a.m. EDT (1150 GMT).

Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Space Systems Co. will team with Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems Sector to compete for full-scale development of NASA's orbital space plane. The orbital space plane program is planned as a next-generation crew rescue and transport system for the international space station. The space plane, which may include multiple vehicles, will enable a larger permanent crew to occupy the orbiting research facility, increasing science and research capabilities in space. Details of the agreement between Lockheed and Northrop, announced Monday, will be worked out in the next 90 days, Northrop Grumman spokesman Brooks McKinney said. If any of the...

<p>CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) -- A Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket launched successfully from Florida with a new commercial communications satellite bound for high-Earth orbit.</p> <p>The Rainbow 1 satellite, owned by Cablevision Systems Corp. and built by Lockheed Martin Corp., was headed for a stationary orbit 22,000 miles above Earth. It should begin providing direct-to-home service to North America later this year, according to Lockheed, which built the satellite as well as the rocket.</p>

Lockheed Martin's second Atlas 5 rocket has lifted off on a mission to place the Greek Hellas Sat communications spacecraft into orbit. The rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 6:10 p.m. EDT (2210 GMT). Follow its climb to orbit in our Mission Status Center.