Successful Launch of Satellite Ends 21 Days of Snags, Delays

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. —  An Air Force Delta 2 rocket successfully boosted a $65-million military navigation satellite into orbit Saturday, ending a string of five launch delays in 21 days caused by bad weather and technical problems.

The 126-foot, blue-and-white rocket streaked through a blue afternoon sky, thrilling thousands of spectators along area beaches and highways.

Equipped with nine strap-on solid-fuel boosters for extra power, the $30-million rocket arced east over the Atlantic Ocean, leaving a cloud of exhaust in its wake.

Mounted in the rocket’s nose cone was a Global Positioning System navigation satellite, the second in a planned constellation of 21 such space beacons.

About 25 minutes after blastoff, the 3,675-pound solar-powered satellite was ejected into its elliptical “transfer orbit.” If all goes well, an on-board solid-fuel rocket motor will fire this week to put the satellite in a circular 12-hour orbit 12,500 miles up.

Blastoff originally was scheduled for May 20, but bad weather caused three postponements in a row, and a fourth launch attempt was scrubbed at the last instant May 24 when the rocket’s main engine liquid-oxygen fuel valve failed to open on computer command as the countdown hit zero.

Although engineers were unable to figure out what caused the problem, the valve and other equipment were replaced. The rocket’s fifth launch attempt failed Friday when more bad weather swept over the cape.

The Air Force was under pressure to get the Delta 2 and its payload off the pad to free tracking equipment for the debut flight of a powerful Titan 4 rocket thought to be carrying a $180-million early warning satellite.

In all, the Air Force plans to launch 21 upgraded “block 2” GPS satellites to join seven older and less-sophisticated craft now in space. The satellites are built by Rockwell International’s Satellite Systems Division in Seal Beach, Calif., under a $1.2-billion contract.

Equipped with sensitive atomic clocks, four such satellites will be “visible” at any given time from anywhere on Earth. Military forces on the ground, at sea or in the air will be able to use signals from the satellites to pinpoint their positions to within about 50 feet.