The US Space Force aims to launch two experimental satellites

The US Space Force plans to launch a cluster of experimental satellites known as STP-3 into orbit from Florida on Sunday morning, including a NASA laser communications spacecraft.

United Launch Alliance has scheduled liftoff of the Atlas V rocket from Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for a two-hour window beginning at 4:04 a.m. EST.

The mission has been delayed since this summer due to a variety of factors, according to Col. Carlos Quinones, director of the Space Force’s Space Test Program, who spoke at a press conference

“We’ve been working on this for a very long time, so we’re very excited about that,” Quinones said.

He also said “the $1.14 billion mission will carry a number of classified spacecraft to aid navigation and communication in space, including a satellite to aid detection of nuclear detonations in space”

Read more: SpaceX successfully launched the latest Starlink spacecraft from Florida

Gary Wentz, ULA vice president of government and commercial programs said that the suite of satellites is bound for a very high orbit more than 22,000 miles above the Earth  Therefore, the rocket will be augmented by five boosters, he said.

“The [rocket] is the most powerful Atlas in our fleet,” Wentz said. The altitude of the mission means the STP-3 “will become the longest mission with seven hours and 10 minutes until separation … and 8 hours, 8 minutes until the end of the mission,”

NASA spent about $320 million on its contribution to the mission, the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration spacecraft.

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