Satnews Daily
September 20th, 2017

So Far So Good ... ULA Ready to Roll With NROL-42 Launch for National Security 


Still good news, as tomorrow's launch of the satellite on a national security mission is still a go.

The ULA launch readiness review was completed today and everything is progressing toward the ULA Atlas V NROL-42 launch in support of national security. The mission, for the National Reconnaissance Office, is set to lift off on a ULA Atlas V rocket on Thursday, September 21 from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Today’s L-1 weather forecast continues to show 60 percent favorable conditions for launch. The launch time is 10:38 p.m. PDT. 

Webcast is available here.

Atlas V NROL-42 mission profile located here:

Launch Day Forecast

  • Overall probability of violating weather constraints: 40 percent
  • Areas of concern: Launch Visibility, Ground Winds
  • Overall probability of violating weather constraints for 24 Hour Delay: 10 percent
  • Areas of concern: Ground Winds

Launch Broadcast Satellite Coordinates + Webcast

ALL TIMES PACIFIC

LAUNCH – SEPTEMBER 21, 2017                                     

BARS AND TONE – 9:47 P.M.

PROGRAM START – 10:18 P.M.

TRANSMISSION FOR DIGITAL HIGH DEFINITON

SATELLITE: SES 3

TRANSPONDER: 24

BAND: C-Band Digital

ORBITAL POSITION: 103 degrees west

HD BANDWIDTH: 18 MHz (Half Transponder ‘CD’)

UPLINK FREQ: 6,414.000 MHz (Horizontal)

DOWNLINK FREQ: 4,189.000 MHz (Vertical)

SYMBOL RATE: 13

FEC: ¾

DATA RATE: 17.9705

DVBS-QPSK

MPEG-2

AUDIO EMBEDDED