spacetoday.net: Delta launches WGS-5 satellite

Posted: Sat, May 25, 2013, 11:27 AM ET (1527 GMT)
Delta 4 launch of WGS-5 (ULA)

A Delta 4 rocket successfully launched the fifth in a series of military communications satellites on Friday evening. The Delta 4 Medium-Plus (5,4) rocket lifted off on schedule at 8:27 pm EDT Friday (0027 GMT Saturday) and released the Wideband Global SATCOM 5 (WGS-5) satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit 41 minutes later. WGS-5, built by Boeing, is a 6,000-kilogram satellite that will provide military communications at X- and Ka-bands from 52.5 degrees west in GEO. The launch had been scheduled for Thursday but was postponed by a minor technical problem. The launch was also the first Delta 4 mission since an October launch of a GPS satellite. During that launch, the upper stage generated less thrust than normal, a problem traced to a fuel leak in the engine; the problem did not prevent the satellite from reaching its planned orbit.