spacetoday.net: Delta 2 launches Italian satellite

Delta 2 launches Italian satellite

Posted: Sat, Nov 6, 2010, 8:59 AM ET (1259 GMT)
Delta 2 launch of COSMO-Skymed 4 (ULA)

A Delta 2 lifted off Friday night from California, placing an Italian remote sensing satellite into orbit. The Delta 2 7420-10 lifted off from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 10:20 pm EDT Friday (0220 GMT Saturday) and placed the COSMO-Skymed 4 satellite into sun-synchronous orbit. The launch had been scheduled for a week ago, but was delayed several times because of poor weather and technical issues. The satellite is the fourth and final in a series of synthetic aperture radar spacecraft for the Italian government. The launch was also the 350th in the history of the Delta family of launch vehicles, stretch back to May 1960.