CAPE CANAVERAL Air Station, Fla., Oct. 21, 1997 – A Lockheed Martin Atlas IIA rocket is completing final preparations to launch a communications satellite for the U.S. Air Force at Cape Canaveral Air Station (CCAS), Fla. on October 24. The sixth in the series of spacecraft for the Defense Satellite Communications System III (DSCS III)program will be launched from Complex 36A at the opening of a 79-minute launch window that extends from 7:37 to 8:56 p.m. EDT. This is the seventh of eight planned Atlas missions from CCAS this year.