Boeing Launches Third Italian Earth Observation Satellite The Boeing Company today successfully launched the third of four Italian Constellation of Small Satellites for Mediterranean basin Observation (COSMO) SkyMed spacecraft. A Delta II rocket procured from United Launch Alliance for Thales Alenia Space Italia lifted off at 7:28 p.m. pacific time from Pad SLC-2W at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The COSMO-SkyMed spacecraft was deployed to low-Earth orbit approximately 58 minutes after liftoff.
A rocket carrying an Italian Earth-observation satellite blasted off Friday evening from the California coast. The Delta rocket II lifted off around 7:30 p.m. and made an arc south over the dark Pacific Ocean as it headed toward orbit. The payload was the third part of a four-satellite system called COSMO-SkyMed - short for Constellation of Small Satellites for Mediterranean Basin Observation - developed under an agreement between the Italian Space Agency and Italy's defence ministry.
Delta 2 set to blastoff The team at Vandenberg Air Force Base is set to begin counting down toward tonights planned blastoff of a 12-story-tall Delta 2 rocket. The booster built by United Launch Alliance is targeting departure during an instantaneous window at 7:28 tonight from Space Launch Complex-2. The team received permission to proceed with the countdown during a launch readiness review on Thursday.
A United Launch Alliance Delta II (7420-10C) rocket is to launch the third Italian COSMO-SkyMed (COnstellation of small Satellites for the Mediterranean basin Observation) 3 radar Earth-imaging satellite from SLC-2W, Vandenberg Air Force Base at 02:28 GMT, 25th October 2008. The rocket will place the dual-use civil-military satellite into a sun-synchronous polar orbit. The satellites X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) will be used for environmental disaster monitoring, agricultural mapping and strategic defence.