Atlas 5

A $320 million NASA experiment to test high-speed laser communications links between Earth and space is poised for launch Tuesday, tagging along for a ride to geosynchronous orbit on a US Space Force mission aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket.

United Launch Alliance delayed the planned launch of an Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral Sunday after discovering a kerosene fuel leak in the launch pad’s ground storage system. Officials have rescheduled launch with two U.S. military satellites for Tuesday morning.

United Launch Alliance rolled an Atlas 5 rocket to its launch pad Friday at Cape Canaveral in preparation for liftoff on a mission to carry two U.S. Space Force technology demonstration satellites into orbit.

United Launch Alliance transferred an Atlas 5 rocket from its vertical hangar to launch pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Friday. Officials scrubbed a planned launch attempt Sunday due to a leak in the kerosene fuel ground storage system at the launch pad.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket streaked into space from Cape Canaveral before dawn Oct. 16 with NASA’s Lucy asteroid mission, a robotic probe to explore a group of enigmatic asteroids leading and trailing Jupiter in its orbit around the sun.

Bound for a pristine population of ancient asteroids, a NASA science probe named Lucy took off from Cape Canaveral before dawn Saturday and rocketed into space on top of an Atlas 5 launcher to begin a 12-year, $981 million mission seeking out clues about the early solar system.

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft, buttoned up in the nose cone of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5, took off from Cape Canaveral at 5:34 a.m. EDT (0934 GMT) Saturday. The Lucy mission will take aim on eight asteroids during a 12-year mission, a record number of flyby targets for a single spacecraft.

NASA is ready to launch a $981 million mission to the distant reaches of the solar system Saturday, kicking off a 12-year expedition to visit a group of unexplored asteroids that may offer clues to help scientists decipher how the planets formed more than 4 billion years ago.

The final Atlas rocket assigned to launch a solar system exploration mission is set for liftoff before dawn Saturday. NASA’s Lucy asteroid mission is mounted on top of the rocket awaiting launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.