Boeing Delta IV Launches Critical Military Weather Satellite

WEATHER REPORT

The launch of the Delta IV rocket. Credit: Boeing.

by Staff Writers
St. Louis (SPX) Nov 06, 2006
A Boeing Delta IV rocket has successfully launched a Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellite into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The launch was the second West Coast mission completed for the U.S. Air Force Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. Liftoff of the Delta IV Medium occurred at 5:53 a.m. Pacific time Nov 4 from Space Launch Complex (SLC) 6. The DMSP-17 payload was successfully deployed approximately 18 minutes later.

"The DMSP constellation has the critical job of providing specialized weather data to aid the U.S. military in planning operations at sea, on land and in the air," said Dan Collins, vice president of Boeing Launch Systems. "The Delta team is proud to contribute to this important capability for national defense with this first launch of a DMSP satellite aboard a Delta rocket."

This was the seventh Delta IV launch since the configuration began flying in November 2002 and the third of the Medium configuration. This was the first direct injection mission for Delta IV.

"With this second successful launch of a Delta IV from the West Coast this year, and the third Delta IV mission in 2006, we are seeing this new launch vehicle family being put through its paces and building a record of reliability," Collins added. "I'm very pleased with the vehicle performance and the dedication to mission success demonstrated by the Delta team."

The Delta IV for the DMSP-17 mission comprised a common booster core and first stage powered by a Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne RS-68 engine. The second stage was powered by a Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne RL10B-2 engine with an extendible nozzle. A four-meter-diameter composite fairing topped the stack and encapsulated the payload.

SLC-6 is the West Coast launch site for the Boeing Delta IV family of launch vehicles that provides the Air Force the strategic capability to launch national security satellites to polar, Sun-synchronous and high-inclination orbits. It can support all five configurations of the Delta IV family.

Major suppliers for the Delta IV family are Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne, Canoga Park, Calif., for first and second stage engines; Alliant Techsystems (ATK), Minneapolis, Minn., for composite and propulsion technologies, and L-3 Communications Corp., New York, N.Y., for the guidance computer.

The next Delta launch will be of a GPS navigation satellite aboard a Delta II from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., in mid-November.

WEATHER REPORT

Early Snow Catches Central Europe Off Guard

Warsaw (AFP) Nov 2, 2006
The early arrival of winter in central Europe caused road chaos and accidents Thursday as the first snowfall caught many people off-guard. Parts of southern Poland were blanketed overnight in up to 20 centimeters (eight inches) of snow, and the wintry precipitation was continuing around the country Thursday. Slovakia saw 30 centimeters of snow pile up in certain areas, while the Czech Republic registered 10 centimeters.

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