The mission poster. Credit: ILS

Fueled and ready to fly, the Rainbow 1 direct-to-home TV broadcasting satellite was delivered to Lockheed Martin's Atlas 5 assembly building and mounted atop its rocket launcher today for next week's liftoff from Cape Canaveral.

The third Atlas 5 rocket will carry the 4,328 kg spacecraft into orbit July 17 during a launch window of 7:20 to 9 p.m. EDT (2320-0100 GMT).

Built by Lockheed Martin for Cablevision, the Rainbow 1 satellite will be operated in geostationary orbit to provide standard and high definition television programming to homes outfitted with an 18-inch rooftop dish.

Cablevision says the new Rainbow DBS service will be available across 80 to 90 percent of the United States. Commercial service could commence later this year.

The satellite is based upon the A2100AX model. It has an estimated service life of 18 years.

Technicians put Rainbow 1 through final testing and the loading of its onboard fuel tanks at the Astrotech processing facility in Titusville, Florida. The top half of the Atlas 5's nose cone was then enclosed around the spacecraft before the shipment of the payload to the Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral's Complex 41.

A heavy-lifting crane gently hoisted the cargo into the VIF this morning. Rainbow was positioned atop the launcher and then slowly lowered into place for mating to the Centaur upper stage. The bottom portion of the nose cone was previously installed to encapsulate the Centaur.

"We are still doing the final connections. It requires more loving care as you bring it down with the five-meter fairing," Atlas launch director Adrian Laffitte said in an interview this afternoon. "So far, everything is going real well."

Rainbow 1 is encapsulated with the fairing at Astrotech last week. Credit: ILS

During the launch, the entire fairing will be jettisoned in two halves by splitting down the side about three-minutes, 44-seconds after liftoff.

Also today, senior officials held the President's Review to confirm all is in readiness for launch next week.

"We got approval to go ahead and proceed. (There are) no issues and everything is go for launch," Laffitte said. "We polled all of our management and everyone is ready to go."

A key check of the combined rocket and payload -- called the Integrated Systems Test -- is scheduled for Wednesday to verify the duo is working properly. Routine pre-launch preparations will follow, including ordnance operations and battery installations. Rollout from the assembly building to the launch pad is targeted for 9:50 a.m. EDT on July 17.

This third Atlas 5 mission will mark the debut of the rocket's 500-series configuration. The vehicle is distinguished by a much larger five-meter (16.4-foot) diameter nose cone. The Swiss fairing was built by Contraves Space for Lockheed Martin.

In addition, two strap-on solid rocket motors will be used to give the Atlas 5 additional thrust during the first 90 seconds of flight. The Aerojet-made boosters can be flown on both the Atlas 5 400-series and 500-series.

Aside from the bigger fairing and new solids, the rest of the Atlas 5 rocket is unchanged from the two earlier launches. The Common Core Booster first stage is powered by the Russian RD-180 main engine and the single-engine Centaur upper stage uses Pratt & Whitney's RL10A-4-2 cryogenic powerplant.

It will take the Atlas 5 one-hour, 40-minutes, 27-seconds to ferry Rainbow into geosynchronous transfer orbit. Deployment will occur as the rocket nears the far western Pacific Ocean.