Posted: Tue, Oct 15, 2002, 9:07 AM ET (1307 GMT)
The first Delta 4 launch vehicle successfully test-fired its main engine for several seconds Monday afternoon. During the "hot-fire" test, a launch countdown was simulated and the booster's RS-68 main engine was ignited at T-3.5 seconds. The engine fired at full thrust — 2,900 kilonewtons — before being shut down shortly after T-0 seconds. Boeing officials pronounced the test, the final milestone before the inaugural flight, a success. The first Delta 4 launch, using the same vehicle tested on pad 37B Monday, is scheduled for mid-November. That launch will carry the Eutelsat W5 spacecraft into orbit.
