US Air Force to Launch Advanced Military Satellite Thursday

A gleaming new spacecraft valued at over $1 billion to serve in the top-notch mission of providing the president and military leaders a secure and survivable communications link in wartime was mounted atop its Atlas 5 rocket at Cape Canaveral today.

The second Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite, AEHF 2, is scheduled for blastoff on Thursday, May 3, two days earlier than expected because the Eastern Range suddenly became available.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle on its voyage to the International Space Station had planned to go during an instantaneous liftoff opportunity April 30, with a backup launch date of May 3 to rendezvous with the outpost. That drove the earliest Range slot for the Atlas to May 5.

However, lingering problems forced SpaceX to again delay its long-awaited cargo-delivery demonstration trip to the station, scrapping any plans to launch next week and putting the Atlas first in line for blastoff from Cape Canaveral.

space.com