CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A Spanish communications satellite is ready for launch from Florida on Thursday and the weather forecast is looking pretty good.
Thick clouds, gusting wind and bands of rain showers that have dominated Cape Canaveral skies most of the week are heading south and expected to give the Hispasat 1-C satellite a decent chance at being shot into space atop a Lockheed Martin commercial Atlas 2-AS rocket.
Air Force weather forecasters say there is a 60 percent chance of acceptable conditions during the launch window that extends from 6:10 p.m. to 7:02 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, said Jim Sardonia, a meteorologist with the 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral Air Station.
There was one technical problem with the rocket that workers were trying to take care of Wednesday. A battery used for the rocket's self-destruct system failed and had to be replaced, a problem that has happened before and is apparently easily corrected.
"We don't believe that will have any impact whatsoever on our countdown," said Lockheed Martin Atlas launch operations manager Adrian Laffitte. Other than the battery, "all systems are go for launch."
Hispasat 1-C will be launched into an orbit over the equator and placed near two other Hispasat satellites that were launched in 1992 and 1993 to serve Spain, Portugal and portions of the European and American continents.
This new satellite is expected to last at least 15 years and will increase Hispasat's capabilities of providing communication services across the Atlantic Ocean between North, Central and South America and Europe. The satellite will also provide direct broadcast television programming to more than 1 million people in Spain and Portugal.
Hispasat is a private company located in Spain that is responsible for procuring the satellite, ordering the launch service and operating it once it has been checked out and turned over to the company, said Pedro Pinto, general director of programs for Hispasat.
Thursday's commercial launch mission is valued at around $200 million, Pinto said.
The launch will mark the 19th use of the Atlas 2-AS rocket -- a version of the historic rocket that features four strap-on solid rocket boosters. Two of the boosters are ignited at launch, while the remaining two are ignited about a minute into flight. Each set burns for about one minute, and then is jettisoned to fall into the ocean.
Thursday's launch window opens seven minutes after sunset -- so from the perspective of Central Florida residents, the rocket will take off in the dark and then fly into sunlight as it climbs out of Earth's shadow. The lighting and atmospheric conditions may provide an incredible display of the rocket's exhaust plume.
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