[MilCom] Minotaur to launch Tuesday evening from NASA Wallops Island

[Jason]

United States Air Force Minotaur I rocket is scheduled to lift-off at 7:30 p.m. EST, Nov.19, from the Mid-Atlantic Regional 
Spaceports Pad-0B at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

The
 Minotaur will launch the Air Force's Operationally Responsive Space 
Office's ORS-3 mission, which features the deployment of 29 satellites 
in space.

The launch window is 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.  The backup launch days run through November 26.

The
 launch may be visible, depending on atmospheric conditions at ones 
viewing site, from northern Florida to southern Canada and west to 
Indiana.

The ORS-3 Mission, also known as an enabler mission, 
will demonstrate and validate launch and range improvements for NASA and
 the military. These include automated trajectory targeting, 
range-safety planning and flight termination systems. The launch also 
will be part of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) 
certification process for the Minotaur rocket. The FAA has licensing 
authority over American commercial rockets.

The Minotaur's 
primary payload is the Space Test Program Satellite-3 (STPSat-3), an Air
 Force technology-demonstration mission. Thirteen small cubesats aboard 
are being provided through NASA's Cubesat Launch Initiative. Among the 
cubesats is NASA's Small Satellite Program PhoneSat 2 second generation 
smartphone mission. Also included is the first cubesat built by high 
school students.

The NASA Visitor Center at Wallops and the 
Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge/Assateague Island National 
Seashore will be open for viewing the launch.  Visitors to Assateague 
need to be on the island by 6 p.m. before the entrance gate closes.

For more information on the ORS-3 mission, visit:
http://go.usa.gov/Wgbd

Live coverage of the launch is available via UStream beginning at 6:30 p.m. EST on launch day at:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-tv-wallops

Launch status can be followed on launch day on Twitter at:
http://www.Twitter.com/NASA_Wallops
and Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/NASAWFF