Delta Does It Again
Nice launch. What was it? Aviation Week tells us:
A NASA-supervised mission carrying a satellite with a prototype sensor technology for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) was put into a low-Earth polar orbit Tuesday one hour after liftoff by a United Launch Alliance Delta II from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
The $400 million Space Tracking and Surveillance System Advanced Technology Risk Reduction (SSTS-ATRR) mission, originally called the Block 2010 space Risk Reduction, was launched at 1:24 p.m. PDT and achieved orbit at 2:22 p.m. from a two-stage Delta II 7920-10L.
The goal of the partially classified satellite is to demonstrate sensor technology to track ballistic missiles (Aerospace DAILY, April 29). MDA turned to NASA for launch assistance because the space agency had two ordered two Delta II launchers at a time when the defense agency had switched to larger Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles, according to NASA Launch Manager Chuck Dovale.
In this part of California, it’s a tailgate party:
