The Air Force and United Launch Alliance (ULA) are set for Thursday’s launch of NROL-55 from Vandenberg AFB, Calif.

Launch is scheduled for 8:49 a.m. EDT. The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) auxiliary payload Government Rideshare Advanced Concepts Experiment (GRACE) will carry 13 cubesats to space as part of NROL-55. Launch will take place on an Atlas V.

An Atlas V at the Cape Canaveral launch range. Photo: ULA.
An Atlas V at the Cape Canaveral launch range. Photo: ULA.

The forecast as of late Tuesday showed a 70 percent chance of acceptable weather. ULA is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Boeing [BA].