Posted: Tue, Mar 11, 2003, 10:22 AM ET (1522 GMT)
A Boeing Delta 4 successfully launched a communications satellite for the US military Monday night. The Delta 4 Medium lifted off from pad 37B at Cape Canaveral, Florida at 7:59 pm EST (0059 GMT Tuesday). The booster's payload, the Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) 3-A3 spacecraft, separated from the Delta's upper stage 42 minutes later. The launch took place at the end of a 77-minute launch window, as a minor problem with a helium purge line in the main engine and a telemetry glitch pushed the launch to the end of the window. Launch attempts the two previous days were scrubbed because of weather and technical problems. Florida Today reported that engineers plan to investigate why video of the slow-motion liftoff appeared to show part of the engine plume approaching the skirt that protects the engine. The DSCS satellite, originally built in the late 1970s and completely refurbished twice before launch, will be positioned over the Indian Ocean. The final DSCS satellite is scheduled for launch in July on the next Delta 4 launch; two other Delta 4 launches, including a demonstration flight of the Delta 4 Heavy, are scheduled for later this year. Monday's launch was the first military flight of either the Delta 4 or the Atlas 5, the two vehicles developed under the Air Force’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program.
