Posted: Thu, Jun 26, 2003, 9:11 PM ET (0111 GMT)
A Pegasus launch vehicle successfully placed the OrbView-3 commercial remote sensing satellite into orbit Thursday afternoon. The Pegasus XL was deployed from its L-1011 carrier aircraft at 2:55 pm EDT (1855 GMT) flying over the Pacific Ocean near Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. It placed the OrbView-3 satellite into low Earth orbit 10 minutes later. The spacecraft, which like the Pegasus was built by Orbital Sciences Corporation, will maneuver into its final Sun-synchronous orbit, 470 kilometers high and inclined 97 degrees to the Equator, over the next few weeks. The spacecraft will be used by Orbimage to provide high-resolution images — one-meter black-and-white and four-meter color — to various customers. The launch is the third Pegasus flight of the year, and the 20th consecutive Pegasus mission.

Related Links:

•  SPACE.com article
•  Spaceflight Now mission status center
•  Orbital Sciences Corporation press release
•  Orbimage press release