spacetoday.net: Delta 2 launches missile tracking demo satellites

Posted: Fri, Sep 25, 2009, 1:44 PM ET (1744 GMT)
Delta 2 launch of STSS Demo satellites (NASA/KSC)

A Delta 2 rocket successfully launched a pair of technology demonstration satellites for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) on Friday. The Delta 2 7920-10c lifted off from Pad 17B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 8:20 am EDT (1220 GMT) and released the two Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) Demo satellites into low Earth orbit less than an hour later. The two spacecraft, built by Northrop Grumman, carry sensors designed to detect and track ballistic missile launches, demonstrating technologies that could be used on a future network of such satellites. The launch had been scheduled for Wednesday but was postponed by weather and a fuel leak on the rocket. The launch was carried out for the MDA by NASA.