The first launch of a U.S. Space Force mission since the establishment of the new military service is planned Thursday, when a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral with a billion-dollar jam-resistant communications satellite designed to ensure national leaders remain connected with the armed forces.

This is the launch timeline to be followed by the Atlas 5 rocket’s ascent into orbit from Cape Canaveral with the SBIRS GEO Flight 4 satellite for U.S. military infrared reconnaissance.

A U.S. Army veteran of Operation Desert Storm, a Russian Air Force MiG-29 fighter pilot, and a former flight controller for Russia’s Mir space station arrived at the International Space Station on Friday, with a smooth docking aboard a Soyuz spaceship at 0952 GMT (5:52 a.m. EDT), two days after a successful launch from Kazakhstan.