Delta Rocket Puts Navstar Craft in Orbit

An advanced navigation satellite soared into orbit Tuesday aboard the Air Force’s new Delta 2 rocket, a booster developed to carry vital military payloads grounded after the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger.

It was the first of at least 54 new unmanned rockets the Pentagon is ordering in a $14-billion program to resolve a post-Challenger crisis that has seen about 40 reconnaissance and other national security payloads remain in storage because there was not a launch vehicle.

The Navstar Global Positioning System satellite carried Tuesday on the Delta 2 was the first military payload shifted off the shuttle manifest to a throwaway booster.

The $30-million, 128-foot rocket roared off its launch pad at 1:30 p.m., and the Air Force reported 30 minutes later that it had performed flawlessly in lofting the $65-million satellite into an initial orbit.

“It was in every way a picture-perfect launch,” said Lt. Col. Bob Tayloe, the launch director. “The satellite came up very strong and we’re receiving a good signal.”

An on-board rocket motor is scheduled to fire Thursday to shift the satellite into a circular orbit about 11,000 miles from Earth.

The 3,675-pound satellite is an advanced version of seven earlier model Navstars now in orbit. It will tell U.S. and allied military forces where they are to within a few feet anywhere on the globe.

The new satellite has more power and other improved systems. It also has two information channels instead of one, with the second encrypted for use by the military. Users of the military channel will be able to plot their locations to within 50 feet, in some cases to within five or six feet, officials said.