United Launch Alliance (ULA) is preparing to launch its final Atlas 5 rocket for the U.S. military on July 30 at 6:45 a.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

This mission, designated USSF-51, will be ULA's 100th national security operation and the 58th launch of the Atlas V for national security, carrying a classified payload for the U.S. Space Force Systems Command.

Although this marks the final national security mission for the Atlas family of rockets, ULA has 15 more Atlas V launches planned, primarily for Boeing's Starliner and Amazon's Project Kuiper satellites.

The launch will take place from Launch Complex-41, located south of Kennedy Space Center, and will utilize the Atlas V's highest performance configuration, the 551 variant.

As of the latest updates, weather conditions for the launch are favorable, with only a 20% chance of conditions preventing the launch.

The launch is expected to be visible from the Space Coast, with viewers anticipating a rumble shortly after liftoff.

Gary Wentz, ULA’s vice president, highlighted the importance of interspersing Atlas launches with Vulcan missions to meet the demands of the Phase 2 contract.

ULA's launch schedule has faced delays due to development issues with the Vulcan Centaur rocket, which is set to replace the Atlas 5 and Delta 4 rockets.

Following the USSF-51 launch, ULA will focus on the certification flight of its Vulcan rocket, with the second certification flight planned for September 2024.

The USSF-51 mission is the first ULA launch under the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 2 contract, awarded to ULA and SpaceX in 2020.

This mission is part of a $3.4 billion contract awarded to ULA in 2019, which was recently modified to increase the contract value due to an increase in mission orders from 34 to 49.