Updated Launch Time

 ULA Atlas V DoD STP-3 Launch
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the Department of Defense’s Space Test Program 3 (STP-3) mission is seen illuminated by spotlights at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission’s Space Test Program Satellite-6 (STPSat-6) spacecraft hosts NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) and the NASA-U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Ultraviolet Spectro-Coronagraph (UVSC) Pathfinder. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Launch preparations are underway, but because of high velocity upper level winds the new launch time is 5:19 a.m. EST for the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Space Test Program 3 (STP-3) mission, managed by the U.S. Space Force (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC), from Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 551 rocket will carry satellites and technology experiments, including NASA payload Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) and the NASA-U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Ultraviolet Spectro-Coronagraph (UVSC) Pathfinder, to space.

Watch the launch webcast live on NASA Television and the agency’s website. Keep following the blog for updates on liftoff and the agency’s deployment of LCRD.

Stay connected with the LCRD mission on social media:

Twitter: @NASA@NASAGoddard@NASALaserComm@NASA_Technology@NASASCaN
Facebook: NASANASAGoddardNASA TechnologyNASA Space Communications and Navigation
Instagram: NASANASAGoddard