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BY JUSTIN RAY

Follow the countdown and launch of the Boeing Delta 2 rocket with the U.S. military's Micro-Satellite Technology Experiment (MiTEx) spacecraft. Reload this page for the very latest on the mission.

1747 GMT (1:47 p.m. EDT)

A couple more views of the Delta rocket have been posted here.

1734 GMT (1:34 p.m. EDT)

Launch time is now four hours away.

1732 GMT (1:32 p.m. EDT)

Boeing's ace photographer here at Cape Canaveral, Carleton Bailie, was aboard the mobile service gantry as it rolled back this morning. Some excellent images of the Delta rocket are available here.

1718 GMT (1:18 p.m. EDT)

Hold-fire checks are being conducted with the Range to verify the countdown can be stopped immediately if a problem arises.

1654 GMT (12:54 p.m. EDT)

The joint industry and government launch team for today's mission is gathering at Cape Canaveral for the start of Terminal Count. The action will begin in less than two hours with the first readiness poll of the team to enter into the countdown.

1605 GMT (12:05 p.m. EDT)

Spaceflight Now was out at launch pad 17A this morning for tower rollback. Some pictures of the tower beginning to move have been posted here.

1540 GMT (11:40 a.m. EDT)

The Delta 2 rocket sits under brilliantly blue skies on a beautiful day here in Central Florida. It looks like a great day for a launch.

The latest weather forecast predicts an 80 percent chance of acceptable conditions for liftoff during today's available window extending from 5:34 to 9:34 p.m. EDT. See the full forecast here.

1435 GMT (10:35 a.m. EDT)

The wheeled service tower has been driven back at pad 17A, revealing the Boeing Delta 2 rocket for blastoff at 5:34 p.m. EDT (2134 GMT) today carrying the U.S. military's Micro-Satellite Technology Experiment.

The gantry was used to stack the multi-stage vehicle atop the pad's launch mount, attach the nine strap-on solid motors and hoist the payloads aboard the rocket. The tower also provided the primary weather protection and worker access to the rocket during its stay on the oceanside complex at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The next several hours will be spent putting the final touches on the vehicle, configuring launch pad equipment and securing the complex.

The Terminal Countdown begins at 2:54 p.m. EDT, followed about 20 minutes later by fueling the first stage with kerosene propellant. Liquid oxygen starts flowing into the first stage just after 4 p.m.

1400 GMT (10:00 a.m. EDT)

A critical milestone for today's Delta rocket launch from Cape Canaveral is finally underway after a couple hour wait. The mobile servicing gantry that has wrapped around the Boeing Delta 2 rocket atop pad 17A for the past several weeks just began its slow retraction to expose the 12-story booster for the rest of the countdown.

1110 GMT (7:10 a.m. EDT)

Launch day has dawned for MiTEx, a U.S. military micro-satellite technologies demonstration experiment. Crews at Cape Canaveral's Complex 17 are busy this morning preparing the mobile service tower for its rollback to the launch position. That retraction is anticipated to start shortly. Liftoff time is still set for 5:34 p.m. EDT (2134 GMT).

TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 2006
1555 GMT (11:55 a.m. EDT)


All systems are "go" for Wednesday's launch of the Boeing Delta 2 rocket to send a U.S. military satellite experiment into space.

Liftoff of the Micro-Satellite Technology Experiment, or MiTEx, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida remains targeted for 5:34 p.m. EDT (2134 GMT).

"We just came out of the Launch Readiness Review. We're working no issues," Rick Navarro, the Boeing flight director, said in an interview a short time ago.

"We're getting ready to do the final vehicle closeouts this afternoon, and (we'll) come back early in the morning and move the tower and start the count. At this point, it has been very smooth and we're working no issues. We even have some favorable weather for tomorrow."

Retraction of mobile service gantry from around the rocket is expected no earlier than 7 a.m. The Terminal Countdown begins at 2:54 p.m. in advance of fueling the vehicle's first stage with a highly fined kerosene propellant and supercold liquid oxygen.

The day's available launch window extends four hours, an exceptionally lengthy period to get the rocket airborne. However, the usable portion of the window shrinks to 60 minutes once the liquid oxygen loading process begins.

"We get approximately 60 minutes. We'll get the best 60 out of that four-hour window. But the decision is made once we start flowing liquid oxygen into the vehicle," Navarro explained.

"We will have a weather briefing just before loading liquid oxygen and we'll also look at all of the mission issues. If we aren't working anything related to weather or technical issues, then we'll target the first hour of that four-hour window."

Liquid oxygen is scheduled to start flowing shortly after 4 p.m. in preparation for liftoff at 5:34 p.m. That would result in the window stretching to roughly 6:34 p.m., given the limiting factors involved.

But if the launch team is wrestling with a technical glitch or weather conditions appear unfavorable, managers can delay the start of liquid oxygen loading until later in the day and re-target liftoff for sometime deeper into the window.

The rare long window gives the launch team a healthy amount of margin to deal with unexpected problems that could crop up. And it comes in handy since this mission has to fly either Wednesday or Thursday, otherwise MiTEx must stand down until after next week's Delta 4 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, Navarro said.

The Delta 4 will loft a classified national security reconnaissance spacecraft next Tuesday.

The days between MiTEx and the Delta 4 flights will allow about 60 managers and technicians currently involved in the Cape launch to get in position for the Vandenberg mission. Also, engineers will be reviewing telemetry received from the MiTEx launch to ensure common systems shared between the Delta 2 and Delta 4 rockets worked properly.

"We need those few days to exonerate (common components)...and make sure (a system) is not telling us something that would make us pause for the next launch," Navarro said.

1345 GMT (9:45 a.m. EDT)

The final launch readiness review happens today. During this meeting, senior Air Force, Boeing and MiTEx mission officials will seek concurrence to enter into the countdown tomorrow morning.

Meteorologists continue to predict a 70 percent chance of acceptable weather for the launch. The updated forecast that was issued this morning is available here.

Watch this page for a full countdown preview after the readiness review concludes.

MONDAY, JUNE 19, 2006

Weather conditions to look pretty good for Wednesday's liftoff of the Boeing Delta 2 rocket and the MiTEx military experiment from Cape Canaveral. The latest forecast is available here.

Meanwhile, Boeing has provided further details on the reason why launch slipped from Tuesday to Wednesday.

"During installation of the protective payload fairing, technicians noted a potential for interference between internal components on the fairing and part of the vehicle. Mission teams established the required clearances in the area of concern on June 16, and the payload fairing was successfully installed on June 17. Final vehicle preparations are underway to support the new MiTEx launch date and time of June 21, 5:34 EDT, from Space Launch Complex 17 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station."

SUNDAY, JUNE 18, 2006

The latest weather forecast for Wednesday's launch opportunity is available here.

FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 2006

DELAY. A "minor technical problem" has delayed by one day the launch of a Boeing Delta 2 rocket carrying an experimental military payload. Liftoff of the MiTEx mission has been rescheduled for Wednesday.

Wednesday's weather forecast predicts a 70 percent chance of acceptable conditions.

1645 GMT (12:45 p.m. EDT)

The weather outlook for Tuesday's planned launch of the Delta 2 rocket calls for an 80 percent chance of good conditions. The 20 percent chance of violating the weather rules is due to anvil and cumulus cloud worries. See the full forecast here.

THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 2006

An experimental U.S. military project to test whether the advanced technologies embedded in two miniature satellites and a new upper stage kick motor can operate through the rigors of spaceflight will launch into orbit Tuesday evening from Cape Canaveral aboard a Boeing Delta 2 rocket.

The Micro-Satellite Technology Experiment, or MiTEx for short, is slated for liftoff at 5:34 p.m. EDT (2134 GMT). A four-hour launch window is available through 9:34 p.m. EDT (0134 GMT).

"MiTEx will investigate and demonstrate advanced space technologies such as lightweight power and propulsion systems, avionics and spacecraft structures; commercial-off-the-shelf processors; affordable, responsive fabrication/build-to-launch techniques; and single-string components," DARPA officials explained in mission information provided to Spaceflight Now.

Read our launch preview story.