Posted: Tue, May 5, 2009, 9:39 PM ET (0139 GMT)
A Delta 2 rocket successfully launched a technology demonstration satellite for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) on Tuesday afternoon. The Delta 2 7920 lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 4:24 pm EDT (2024 GMT) and placed the Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) Advanced Technology Risk Reduction (ATRR) satellite into a low Earth orbit. STSS-ATRR will serve as a "technology pathfinder" for the planned STSS system, a space-based network of satellites designed to detect and pinpoint missile launches, providing that information to missile defense systems. A pair of STSS demonstration satellites are scheduled for launch later this year on another Delta 2.

Related Links:

•  Florida Today article
•  AP article
•  Spaceflight Now launch status center
•  United Launch Alliance press release
•  MDA press release