A medium-class version of United Launch Alliance's Delta 4 rocket will give a lift to the National Reconnaissance Office and a clandestine cargo Friday night with blastoff from Cape Canaveral. The launch is targeted for 5:57 p.m. EST (2257 GMT) from Complex 37 for the classified satellite deployment mission.
Weather forecasters are predicting 90 percent odds of acceptable conditions for launch, with only a sight concern of winds gusting to the 20-knot limit.
The cold front bringing wet weather across Florida on Wednesday night into Thursday is expected to clear out, leaving a launch time outlook on Friday night to include just a few low clouds, some scattered high cirrus, north-northwesterly winds of 10 peaking to 15 knots and a temperature of 65 degrees F.
Favorable conditions are supposed to continue through the weekend, if the backup launch opportunities are needed Saturday and Sunday.
The Delta 4 will head eastward after liftoff, its pair of strap-on solid motors delivering an added boost of thrust to the vehicle's cryogenic main engine for the initial ascent. The rocket is known as the Medium+4,2 configuration, which flew the Delta 4's maiden mission in 2002 and several times since then.
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