US Launching New Spy Satellite Thursday: How to Watch It Live (Updated)Space.com
By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | January 10, 2018 12:42pm ET
The National Reconnaissance Office's NROL-47 satellite, encapsulated inside a 16.5-foot (5 meters) payload fairing, is mated to a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Credit: ULAThe United States government plans to launch another reconnaissance satellite Thursday (Jan. 11), and you can watch the liftoff live. The launch, originally planned for Wednesday, was delayed 24 hours due to high winds, according to launch provider United Launch Alliance (ULA).
The NROL-47 spacecraft is scheduled to launch atop a ULA Delta IV Medium rocket from California's Vandenberg Air Force today at 4 p.m. EST (2100 GMT; 1 p.m. local California time). Watch the liftoff coverage
here at Space.com, courtesy of ULA, beginning at 3:40 p.m. EST (2040 GMT; 12:40 p.m. local time).
You can also watch the webcast
directly via ULA.
"We are ready and eager to take on this Delta launch," launch commander Col. Greg Wood, vice commander of the Air Force's 30th Space Wing, said in a statement. "We are proud to provide this national defense capability, and every Team V member involved has tirelessly worked to ensure the launch is safe and successful."
As its name suggests, NROL-47 will be operated by the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the agency in charge of the nation's fleet of spy satellites. NRO missions are generally classified, so it's unclear what NROL-47 will be doing as it cruises around Earth.
Today's liftoff will be ULA's first space mission of 2018, and its 27th overall for the NRO. The company launched three NRO satellites in 2017, all of them aboard Atlas V rockets.
Today's launch will be the 36th by a Delta IV, a two-stage rocket that started flying in 2002, ULA representatives said.
Editor's note: This story, originally posted at 7 a.m. EST, was updated at 12:43 p.m. to include the launch delay.
https://www.space.com/39337-spy-satellite-nrol-47-launch-webcast.html
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