Delta 2 Launches Satellites For NASA and Argentina

Two remote sensing satellites, and a nanosatellite designed to gather space weather data, were launched into orbit Nov. 21 aboard a Boeing Co. [BA]- built Delta 2 rocket. The rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., at 1:24 p.m. EST.

The two primary payloads were NASA’s New Millennium Program Earth-Observing 1 (EO 1) satellite, plus Argentina’s first earth-observing satellite, the Satelite de Aplicaciones Cientificas-C (SAC-C). The secondary payload was Sweden’s Munin nanosatellite.

Each spacecraft jettisoned on schedule: the EO 1 at approximately an hour after liftoff; the SAC-C at approximately 1 hour, 30 minutes; and the Munin at approximately 1 hour, 50 minutes.

“It did its job perfectly, allowing us t carry two distinctly different primary payloads-with different mission and integration requirements-for separate customers on the same launch,” said Joy Bryant, Boeing mission director for the launch.