US Air Force's New Missile-Warning Satellite Launching Tonight: Watch It Live

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A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the new SBIRS GEO Fight 4 missile- warning satellite stands atop Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida ahead of a scheduled Jan. 18, 2018, launch.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the new SBIRS GEO Fight 4 missile- warning satellite stands atop Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida ahead of a scheduled Jan. 18, 2018, launch. (Image credit: Ben Cooper/United Launch Alliance)

Update for Jan. 19: ULA's launch of an Atlas V rocket carrying the SBIRS GEO Flight 4 missile-warning satellite for the U.S. Air Force is now scheduled for Friday, Jan. 19, at 7:48 p.m. EST (0048 GMT on Jan. 20). Watch it live here.

The U.S. Air Force's newest early-warning satellite for missile defense will launch into space from Florida tonight (Jan. 18), and you can watch the action live online.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will launch the new military satellite, called the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) GEO Flight 4, from Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Liftoff is scheduled for 7:52 p.m. EST (0052 GMT on Jan. 19).

ULA will provide a live launch webcast beginning at 7:32 p.m. EST (0032 GMT). You can watch it live on Space.com here, or directly from ULA's YouTube channel.

Built by Lockheed Martin, SBIRS GEO Flight 4 is the fourth member of a growing constellation of early-warning satellites designed to detect the launch of ballistic missiles from space. The satellites fly in geostationary orbits, and carry powerful scanning and infrared surveillance gear to track missile launches from orbit. 

The first two satellites, SBIRS GEO Flights 1 and 2, have been operational since 2013. SBIRS GEO Flight 3 launched in January 2017. Two other satellites, SBIRS GEO Flights 5 and 6, are expected to follow.

The Space Based Infrared System GEO Flight 4 missile-warning satellite is seen during assembly and test at Lockheed Martin’s satellite manufacturing facility in Sunnyvale, California. (Image credit: Lockheed Martin)

"SBIRS provides our military with timely, reliable and accurate missile warning and infrared surveillance information," Tom McCormick, vice president of Lockheed Martin's Overhead Persistent Infrared systems mission area, said in a Nov. 28 statement when SBIRS GEO Flight 4 was shipped to its Florida launch site. "We look forward to adding GEO Flight 4's capabilities to the first line of defense in our nation's missile defense strategy."

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Tariq Malik
Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.