US-Russian Company's Atlas V Will Carry European Satellite Into Orbit

A 191-foot tall Atlas V rocket expected to launch from Florida's Cape Canaveral Thursday afternoon is significant for two reasons: One, it will be the 100th mission flown by a US-Russian launch services joint venture operation, and two -- it's only the second rocket launch of 2006 from the once-bustling Cape.

The rocket -- owned by International Launch Services, a joint venture of American defense contractor Lockheed Martin and Russian aerospace giant Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center -- is expected to take flight between 4:27 pm and 7:17 pm EDT from the stories Launch Complex 41.

The only concern officials have, according to Florida Today, is the chance storm clouds could form uncomfortably close to the launch site. Forecasters say there's a 70 percent chance conditions will favor Thursday's launch.

Weather also played a key role in the only other launch from Cape Canaveral this year -- January's launch of NASA's New Horizons Probe to Pluto, which was carried aloft on an Atlas V January 19, after several delays.

At this rate, the number of launches from the Cape in 2006 won't even match 2005's relatively paltry total of seven -- the lowest total ever since the first rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral in 1950. The comparative lack of activity at the Cape can be attributed to several factors -- including the grounding of NASA's shuttle fleet, as well as a general scarcity of commercial satellite-delivery missions since 2000.

A machinists strike at Boeing also delayed several planned launches, as did technical problems with Boeing's new Delta 4 launcher.

Thursday's planned launch is significant for another reason, however -- it will be the 100th launch for International Launch Services. First formed in 1995, the US-Russian consortium has launched 63 Atlas and 36 Proton rocket missions to date, from Cape Canaveral and the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. All but three of those launches -- all using Proton rockets -- have been successful.

The Atlas V now awaiting the go order at Cape Canaveral carries a European satellite, slated to broadcast direct-to-home television service throughout Europe.

FMI: www.ilslaunch.com