spacetoday.net: Delta 4 launches weather satellite

Posted: Thu, May 25, 2006, 8:00 AM ET (1200 GMT)
Delta 4 launch of GOES-N (NASA/KSC)

A Delta 4 successfully launched a long-delayed weather satellite Wednesday evening. The Delta 4 Medium-Plus (4,2) lifted off from pad 37B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on schedule at 6:11 pm EDT (2011 GMT). The rocket placed its payload, the GOES-N satellite, into geosynchronous transfer orbit, deploying the satellite a little more than four hours after liftoff. The Boeing-built GOES-N, to be renamed GOES-13 once in its final orbit, is the first in a series of three next-generation weather satellites. It will be used initially as an on-orbit spare, eventually replacing the existing GOES-12 spacecraft. The launch had been delayed over a year because of a variety of problems, ranging from launch vehicle and satellite issues to a strike by machinists last fall. The launch is the first Delta 4 mission since the partially-successful inaugural flight of the Delta 4 Heavy in December 2004.