Flight controllers have not heard from NASA’s Opportunity Mars rover since June 10 when an increasingly severe global dust storm blocked out the sun, preventing its solar arrays from recharging the robot’s batteries. But the dust storm is finally abating and engineers are hopeful the long-lived rover will wake up and phone home in the next few weeks.

The top secret intelligence-gathering payload for the U.S. government set for launch Tuesday on top of a Delta 4-Heavy rocket is likely the next in a line of sensitive eavesdropping satellites designed to intercept radio signals and other communications traffic from adversaries around the world.

Another countdown for United Launch Alliance’s next Delta 4-Heavy rocket mission ended without a liftoff Wednesday after a computer sequencer detected a potential problem just before engine ignition.