The classified NROL-42 spy satellite is hoisted to meet its United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket ahead of a planned late-night launch on Sept. 21, 2017 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.
A U.S. spy satellite will launch on a clandestine mission early Friday (Sept. 22), and you can follow the spaceflight action live online.
The NROL-42 satellite is scheduled to lift off from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base at 1:38 a.m. EDT (0538 GMT; 10:38 p.m. Thursday local California time) atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket. You can watch the launch here on Space.com beginning at 1:18 a.m. EDT (0518 GMT; 10:18 p.m. PDT), courtesy of ULA.
You can also watch the liftoff directly via ULA’s website here .
NROL-42 will be operated by the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which builds and manages the nation’s fleet of spy satellites . NRO missions tend to be classified, and NROL-42 is no exception; U.S. officials have not revealed what the spacecraft will be doing or what its orbit will be. [The Most Dangerous Space Weapons Ever ]
The National Reconnaissance Office’s NROL-42 satellite is scheduled to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket early on Sept. 22, 2017.
Credit: ULA
NROL-42 will be the 25th satellite that ULA, a joint venture of aerospace giants Boeing and Lockheed Martin, has launched for the NRO. The 24 previous flights — which were performed by Atlas V, Delta IV and Delta II rockets — have all been successful.
The upcoming liftoff will be the 73rd for the two-stage Atlas V, which debuted in 2002 and has lofted such high-profile payloads as NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity and New Horizons spacecraft. All Atlas V launches to date have been successful.
Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+ . Follow us @Spacedotcom , Facebook or Google+ . Originally published on Space.com .
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