Dulles, Va.-based Orbital Sciences Corporation [NYSE: ORB] successfully launched the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) satellite this morning aboard the company’s Pegasus rocket. The 312-kilogram (690-pound) GALEX scientific satellite, designed and built by Orbital at its Dulles, Va., satellite-manufacturing facility was delivered into its targeted orbit approximately 690 kilometers (420 miles) above the Earth and inclined at 29 degrees to the equator, company officials said.

The Pegasus rocket was released from its L-1011 carrier aircraft at approximately 8:00 a.m. (EDT) and preliminary information indicates that the GALEX satellite is working as planned in the early stages of its mission. Pegasus is used to deploy small satellites into low-Earth orbit after the rocket is launched from beneath Orbital’s specially equipped “Stargazer” L-1011 carrier aircraft over the ocean. The launcher cuts costs and gives customers flexibility to operate from virtually anywhere on Earth with minimal ground support requirements, company officials said.

Pegasus is the only small launch vehicle to have earned NASA’s Category 3 certification, which allows the U.S. space agency to launch its most valuable payloads aboard the rocket. A Category 3 certification is achieved through a record of highly reliable launch services, such as the current record of 19 consecutive successful Pegasus missions carried out since 1997, company officials said. The GALEX mission was the 33rd flight of the Pegasus rocket and the second of four planned missions in 2003. Orbital’s next launch is scheduled for early June to carry the OrbView-3 high-resolution imaging satellite.