LAUNCH OF DOD’s STP-3 MISSION INCL NASA’s LASER COMM RELAY DEMO (LCRD), Dec 7, 2021, Cape Canaveral, FL, 4:04 am ET

Update, December 5, 3:05 pm ET:  The launch has been scrubbed again. New date, Tuesday, December 7.  Same time: 4:04 am ET.

Launch is now scheduled for Tues., Dec. 7 at 4:04amEST. https://t.co/LEV7vitjDL

— ULA (@ulalaunch) December 5, 2021

Update, December 4, 10:10 pm ET:  The launch was scrubbed. They will try again December 6 at 4:04 am EST.

The launch of a ULA #AtlasV 551 rocket carrying the #STP3 mission for the @SpaceForceDOD @USSF_SSC has been scrubbed. During initial operations, a leak was discovered in the Rocket-Propellant-1 (RP-1) ground storage system. Launch is now scheduled for Mon., Dec. 6 at 4:04am EST.

— ULA (@ulalaunch) December 5, 2021

Original Entry: DOD’s Space Test Program-3 (STP-3) mission is scheduled to launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on December 5, 2021 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL. The two-hour launch window opens at 4:04 am ET.

The mission will launch DOD’s STPSat-6 satellite and the Long Duration Propulsive Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) or LDPE-1.

STPSat-6 has nine payloads: the Space and Atmospheric Burst Reporting System–3 developed by the U.S. Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration; NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD); and seven experimental payloads manifested after being assessed and prioritized by the DoD Space Experiment Review Board. One of the latter is the NASA/Naval Research Lab Ultraviolet Spectro-Coronagraph Pathfinder (UVSC Pathfinder).

NASA TV launch coverage begins at 3:30 am ET.