United Launch Alliance (ULA) said Tuesday its forecast shows a 90 percent chance of favorable weather conditions for Thursday’s launch of a Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellite.
The launch is to take place at 10:46 a.m. EDT on an Atlas V rocket from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. ULA added there is a 40 percent overall probability of violating weather constraints for a 24-hour delay. These include thick clouds and cumulus clouds. ULA spokeswoman Jessica Rye said Tuesday cloud cover impacts launches due to range visibility issues and cloud-triggered lightning that sometimes develop.
DMSP-19 will be the program’s 19th satellite, but only the seventh satellite in operations in the polar orbit, according to Lockheed Martin spokesman Mark Lewis. The DMSP satellites provide terrestrial and space weather information and fulfill requirements for global atmospheric, oceanic, terrestrial and space environment information, according to the Air Force. DMSP sensors provide imagery in visible, infrared (IR) and microwave bands to enhance information available to warfighters.
The DMSP satellites operate in sun-synchronous orbit, meaning they cross over the equator at approximately the same local time each day and night. This orbit allows consistent scientific observations with the angle between the sun and the earth’s surface remaining relatively constant, meaning it keeps the angle of sunlight on the surface of the earth as consistent as possible, though the angle changes from season to season.
The Air Force said it doesn’t expect tracking radar issues on its East Coast space launch range to affect West Coast launches at Vandenberg AFB, despite the two ranges having similar systems. Vandenberg 4th Space Launch Squadron Commander Air Force Lt. Col. James Bodnar said last week although the two space launch ranges are similar, each and every individual piece of equipment is “very unique.” A tracking radar at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., that monitors launches for safety after liftoff overheated due to an electrical short. The Air Force expects repairs to take about three weeks, delaying launches. The Air Force is evaluating the feasibility of returning an inactive radar to full mission capability to resume operations sooner. (
DMSP satellites are developed by Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Northrop Grumman [NOC]. ULA is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing [BA].