James Dean

FLORIDA TODAY

United Launch Alliance will roll an Atlas V rocket back from its Cape Canaveral launch pad this morning after a damaged tracking radar prevented it from lifting off this week.

The rocket's launch of a classified National Reconnaissance Office satellite is now planned no earlier than April 10.

A scheduled Tuesday liftoff was postponed by damage to a radar that was required to track the mission's flight.

By Wednesday afternoon, the Air Force's 45th Space Wing confirmed the problem could not be fixed in time for the Eastern Range to support a launch this week.

However, it remains to be seen if the issue affects SpaceX's ability to launch a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule from the Cape on Sunday night, on a mission to deliver cargo to the International Space Station for NASA.

SpaceX and NASA both said Wednesday that they continued to work toward a Sunday countdown and liftoff at 10:49 p.m. Station managers planned to meet this morning to review the launch's status.

The 45th Space Wing did not respond to questions about the range equipment and whether it could affect the SpaceX mission.

ULA now shifts its focus to the West Coast, where an Atlas V is preparing to blast off next Thursday with a military weather satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The company typically requires at least one week between Atlas V launches to assess one flight's performance and determine if any adjustments are necessary before the next.

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com.