CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A new version of an old U.S. rocket will fly into space this April carrying a European satellite.

The deal, announced this week, calls for the European satellite operator Eutelsat to launch its eponymous Eutelsat W 4 from Cape Canaveral Air Station atop Lockheed Martin's new Atlas 3 rocket -- an upgraded version of the Atlas 2 that features Russian-designed rocket engines.

Launch of the Atlas 3 on its inaugural flight is now targeted for April 14, Dennis Dunbar, vice president of mission management for International Launch Services Inc.(ILS), said Wednesday.

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ILS is the commercial launch services management firm for Lockheed Martin's Atlas family of rockets. In effect, Lockheed builds and launches the rockets, while ILS sells the ride atop the rocket. ILS also markets launch services on Russian Proton rockets.

"This will be a busy year for Atlas and ILS here at the Cape," Dunbar said, noting the company's plans to fly 10 Atlas missions from Cape Canaveral this year.

The company already recorded one success this year, on January 20, with the launch of an Atlas 2 carrying a military communications satellite. A commercial satellite for Spain is scheduled for launch Thursday atop an Atlas 2-AS rocket between 6:10 and 7:02 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Eutelsat W 4 is being built by Alacatel Space and will be used by Eutelsat to provide digital broadcasting services in Russia, as well as enable the European satellite operator to develop new markets for pay TV and internet-based services in sub-Saharan Africa.

Eutelsat is a frequent customer for the Atlas rocket, and Lockheed Martin officials say they are grateful the company is willing to take the risk of flying on a new rocket design that hasn't been proven yet in flight.

"Our relationship goes back to the beginning of the Atlas commercial space program when Eutelsat was the first commercial customer to sign with Atlas," ILS president Mark Albrecht said in a prepared statement. "Now we are pleased that this important customer has once again expressed confidence in the Atlas vehicle by flying the first Atlas 3."

With this week's announcement, the Atlas 3 now has five confirmed launch contracts. In addition to Eutelsat, two missions are scheduled for Loral-built satellites and two other missions are for the U.S. government.

Atlas 3's customer for its inaugural mission was originally supposed to be the Telstar 7 satellite when the rocket's first flight was scheduled for June 1999. But problems in April and May 1999 with the Titan 4 and Delta 3 programs, which rely on similar Centaur upper stages, delayed the Atlas 3 mission into 2000.