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 Space Development Agency added 21 satellites to its nascent data transport network in an Oct. 15 launch, the second mission in a 10-month campaign to field 154 operational spacecraft.
