spacetoday.net: Delta 2 launches military technology satellite

Posted: Thu, Jun 22, 2006, 8:08 AM ET (1208 GMT)
Delta 2 launch file photo (Boeing)

A Delta 2 successfully launched Wednesday a military satellite designed to test the use of off-the-shelf components in space. The Delta 2 lifted off from pad 17A at Cape Canaveral at 6:15 pm EDT (2215 GMT), after brief delays caused by a technical glitch and a boater straying into restricted waters. The payload, the Micro-Satellite Technology Experiment (MiTEx), separated from the Delta 2 about a half-hour after liftoff. MiTEx is a two-satellite DARPA-led effort to text how both new and off-the-shelf technologies operate in the space environment; if successful, such components could reduce the cost and development time of future spacecraft. The mission also tested an experimental upper-stage motor developed by the Naval Research Laboratory. The launch also marked the 250th flight of an Aerojet-developed second stage engine on the Delta 2 and its predecessors.