The 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., successfully launched a Boeing Delta IV Medium rocket, boosting a Defense Meteorological Satellite Program satellite into orbit early Friday morning. Liftoff took place at 5:53 a.m. PST, with the DMSP-17 spacecraft deployed 18 minutes later, states a Boeing news release. The launch was the third for Boeing’s Medium configuration of the Delta IV evolved expendable launch vehicle.
The U.S. military is deploying significant airpower in the Caribbean one week after carrying out an airstrike on what it said was a boat operated by a Venezuelan drug cartel.
