Shuttle Atlantis Is Launched; Military Spy Satellite Released

The space shuttle Atlantis lit up the night sky over the central Florida coast Sunday, flaming into the heavens with a six-man crew and a military spy satellite that was later parked in space.

The start of the 10-day mission was smooth and spectacular; luminous smoke billowed from the launch pad as the orbiter rocketed out over the Atlantic Ocean in a graceful, fiery arc.

Liftoff came five days later than originally planned because the guidance system in the booster rocket of the Defense Department satellite was discovered to be malfunctioning and had to be replaced.

About six hours after liftoff, the crew released the $300-million satellite. The attached booster rocket was to propel it 22,300 miles above the Equator, where it use infared sensors to detect nuclear explosions, missile launches and spaceflights.

The military usually provides few details about surveillance satellite launchings, but the lid of secrecy was lifted to save millions of dollars in security costs.

The Atlantis is commanded by Frederick D. Gregory, on his third space voyage. Mission specialist Story Musgrave is on his fourth flight. The crew, Terence T. Henricks, Mario Runco Jr., James S. Voss and Thomas J. Hennan, are all in space for the first time.

While in a 225-mile-high orbit, the astronauts will also study environmental changes and take part in an experiment in which a mission specialist will try to spot military targets on the ground using nothing more than an electronic still camera and binoculars.