Atlas V Rocket to Launch Several Space Modules for US Air Force - Operator

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Atlas V carrier rocket, equipped with Russia's RD-180 engine and five solid rocket boosters, will be launched on Saturday night with the aim to bring several space modules for the US Air Force into the orbit, the United Launch Alliance (ULA) company, which operates the rocket, said.

The liftoff is scheduled for a launch window opening at 23:13 GMT and closing at 01:11 GMT. The rocket is set to blast off from the Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

According to ULA, the payload of the rocket includes the Continuous Broadcast Augmenting SATCOM (CBAS) satellite and a spacecraft labeled ESPA Augmented GEO Laboratory Experiment, or EAGLE. The latter is an experiment-hosting spacecraft for the US Air Force Research Laboratory.

The rocket will have to bring the modules to the geostationary orbit to an altitude of approximately 39,000 kilometers (24,200 miles) above the equator. It is expected to happen almost seven hours after its launch.