UPDATE: ULA Solar Orbiter Scheduled to Launch Sunday From Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

launch targeted for 11:03 p.m. ET

ABOVE VIDEO: Solar Orbiter is the ESA/NASA collaboration soon to start its journey to the Sun. Solar Orbiter has uniquely tilted orbit that will enable it to capture the first images of the Sun’s North and South poles and tackle major solar mysteries with its comprehensive suite of ten different instruments.

BREVARD COUNTY • CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA – A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 411 configuration rocket will launch the Solar Orbiter spacecraft on Sunday, February 9 from Space Launch Complex-41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

• Rocket: Atlas V 411
• Mission: Solar Orbiter
• Launch Date: Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020
• Launch Time: Targeted for 11:03 p.m. EST at the opening of a two hour launch window
• Launch Location: Space Launch Complex-41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida

The spacecraft will make looping orbits around the sun and use 10 instruments to observe solar physics in unprecedented detail. At closest approach, Solar Orbiter will be about approximately 26 million miles (42 million km) from the sun.

Solar Orbiter is an international cooperative mission between ESA and NASA. ESA’s Engineering & Test Center (ESTEC) in The Netherlands is managing the development effort. Airbus developed the spacecraft. The European Space Operations Center (ESOC) in Germany will operate Solar Orbiter after launch.

This will be the 137th mission for United Launch Alliance. It is the 82nd for an Atlas V rocket and the 6th in the 411 configuration.

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