After scrub, Atlas V launch reset for tonight

Note: Tune in here for live updates beginning at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

United Launch Alliance will try again tonight to launch an Atlas V rocket and U.S. missile warning satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, after scrubbing a first attempt Thursday.

Liftoff from Launch Complex 41 is targeted for 7:42 p.m., at the opening of another 40-minute window. The weather forecast looks good, with a 70 percent chance of conditions meeting launch rules.

Technical and range issues thwarted Thursday’s countdown, the first this year on the Space Coast.

Atlas V rocket blasts off with SBIRS satellite

A problem with a booster engine sensor prevented a planned 7:46 p.m. launch of the Air Force’s third Space Based Infrared System satellite.

Troubleshooting efforts were not quite finished by 8:16 p.m., the next scheduled opportunity. But after a sensor test was completed, all systems were “go” for an 8:26 p.m. blastoff, at the end of the day's window.

Then with three minutes to go, an Air Force flight control officer called out, “Hold! Hold! Hold!’

An aircraft had entered the launch hazard area too late for it to be cleared.

The Air Force’s 45th Space Wing, which manages the Eastern Range, is responsible for public safety during launches from Cape Canaveral.

Space Coast remembers 'great American' Gene Cernan

ULA waited until several minutes after the window had closed to officially declare a scrub and plans to prepare for a second attempt Friday.

The 194-foot Atlas V is attempting to launch a $1.2 billion mission, adding a third satellite to a constellation tasked with giving military leaders and troops in the field early warnings of ballistic missile launches.

The mission is the first of potentially more than 30 that could launch from the Space Coast in 2017, according to the Air Force.

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 orjdean@floridatoday.com.And follow on Twitter at@flatoday_jdeanand on Facebook atfacebook.com/jamesdeanspace.