CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A new communications satellite that will serve DISH Network subscribers throughout the United States is ready to fly atop an Atlas 2-AS rocket early Friday morning from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The Lockheed Martin-built booster is scheduled to lift off from pad 36-B during a launch window that extends from 1:21 a.m. to 3:20 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (05:21 to 07:20 GMT) early Friday morning.

Air Force weather forecasts released Wednesday show there is a 60-percent chance of acceptable conditions during the launch window. Concerns include thick clouds and clouds blowing over the Cape from thunderstorms expected to the West.

Friday's launch will loft a satellite built by Loral Space and Communications and known as Echostar 6. It will join five other satellites already orbiting Earth and sending television direct to small home rooftop dishes.

The Atlas 2-AS rocket is the most powerful version of Lockheed Martin's Atlas 2 family. It features four strap-on solid rocket boosters and has been flown successfully 19 times. Friday's planned mission will last nearly 29 minutes from liftoff to spacecraft separation from the Atlas' Centaur upper-stage rocket.

The early morning launch will kick off a busy period in which four major launches are scheduled at launch pads around the world during three consecutive days. In addition to Friday's Atlas launch, the scheduled shots include:

• A Russian Cosmos 3-M rocket is to launch a pair of satellites from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia at 8 a.m. EDT (12:00 GMT) Saturday.
• A Starsem Soyuz rocket is to launch two satellites for the European Space Agency from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 8:40 a.m. EDT (12:40 GMT) Saturday.
• An Air Force Delta 2 rocket is to carry a military navigation satellite into orbit from Cape Canaveral at 5:17 a.m. EDT (09:17 GMT) Sunday.

Once again, Air Force officials with the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base are sending out maps and warnings to boaters to stay clear of the coast during the launch attempts Friday and Sunday.

Mariners intruding into the launch danger zone have resulted in costly delays during recent launch attempts at the Cape.