Tag: Delta 2
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Polar-orbiting weather satellite joined up with Delta 2 rocket in California
File photo of the Delta 2 rocket’s second stage lifted atop the launcher. Credit: NASA/NOAA The first in NOAA’s new series of polar-orbiting weather satellites has been lifted atop United Launch Alliance’s second-to-last Delta 2 rocket on a launch pad in California, ready for encapsulation and final checkouts ahead of a predawn launch set for…
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Pioneering Earth observation satellite retired by NASA
Artist’s concept of the EO-1 satellite in orbit. Credit: NASA/Goddard/SVS NASA has decommissioned a long-lived satellite launched in 2000 that demonstrated remote sensing and surveying instruments and techniques common in today’s orbiting Earth observatories. The Earth Observing-1 spacecraft’s orbit has shifted away from its optimal perch, and the satellite does not carry enough propellant to…
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Delta 2 rocket being assembled at Vandenberg for penultimate launch
The step-by-step Delta 2 assembly process. Photos by NASA The next-to-last Delta 2 rocket is being stacked at its California launch site to take flight in January to put a civilian weather satellite into polar orbit. The first stage, interstage, nine strap-on boosters and second stage of the United Launch Alliance rocket are being pieced…
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Environmental testing underway for JPSS 1 launching in January
The next American polar-orbiting weather satellite that will feed long-range forecasts and track environmental trends has slipped into space-like testing ahead of launch. The Joint Polar Satellite System spacecraft No. 1 will be launched atop a United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Jan. 20 at 1:47 a.m.…
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ULA working to reduce five launch pads to two
Vandenberg’s SLC-6. Credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now CAPE CANAVERAL — The nation’s existing Atlas and Delta launch sites are vying for a future when United Launch Alliance completes its modernization with a new rocket system and downsizing to one pad on each coast. The rocket operator, a 50-50 joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, currently…
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What to do with the final Delta 2 rocket?
Credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now CAPE CANAVERAL — With the payload matching game showing no prospects, the final Delta 2 rocket could be headed to the Smithsonian or another museum instead of space. The United Launch Alliance vehicle has flown 153 times since 1989, accumulating 151 successes and currently rides a string of 98 consecutive flawless…
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Camera aboard Delta 2 rocket watches SMAP begin life in orbit
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE — A video camera mounted aboard the United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket beamed back remarkable views of NASA’s SMAP spacecraft being deployed into orbit and opening its solar panels Saturday. “I guess most people saw that wonderful spacecraft separation video that we had that was transmitted back to us from…
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Video: Delta 2 blasts off from Vandenberg
NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive satellite blasts off aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket Saturday, launching into orbit on a three-year mission to measure moisture levels in Earth’s soils. The spacecraft launched at 6:22 a.m. PST (9:22 a.m. EST; 1422 GMT) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The Delta 2’s upper stage…
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Live coverage: Delta 2 launches
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of the NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive environmental satellite aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
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13 launches on manifest for ULA in 2015
Credit: Orbital Sciences Navigation satellites, communications spacecraft, classified missions, NASA science projects and the Orbital Sciences Cygnus cargo ship destined for the International Space Station are on the United Launch Alliance manifest for the new year. It is a 13-launch schedule, featuring 9 Atlas 5 rockets, three Delta 4 vehicles and one Delta 2. Ten…