Atlas V launch delayed to mid-April

Damaged radar not quick fix

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A damaged Eastern Range radar will prevent an Atlas V rocket from launching this week from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Local 6 News partner Florida Today reports.

The United Launch Alliance rocket and its classified payload will roll back Thursday morning from their launch pad to a processing tower.

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Launch of the National Reconnaissance Office satellite will now be targeted for mid-April launch, following ULA's planned April 3 launch of an Air Force weather satellite from California.

The Air Force's 45th Space Wing announced Monday that "range instrumentation" needed to support the Cape launch had suffered an outage.

Fire apparently damaged a radar down range, an it turned out not to be an easy fix.

The issue is not expected to impact SpaceX's planned Sunday night launch of International Space Station cargo for NASA, but the Air Force has not confirmed that.


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