Monday,
December 10, 2007
2nd of 4 Italian COSMOS Satelittes
- Made in
The
ANNOTICO Report
The
United Launch Alliance launched the Italian COSMO-1
(of a series of 4) into orbit from June 7 2007 from Vandenberg Air Force
Base in
The
third will be launched in late 2008. COSMO-4 is the last of the four-satellite
constellation and ULA , the American rocket firm is
competing against "Arianespace" the French rocket makers, and it
will expected to be launched in 2009
Delta 2 rocket launches Italian satellite
By
Janene Scully/Associate Editor
December
9, 2007
For the second
time this year, a Delta 2 rocket with an Italian satellite blasted off from
Vandenberg Air Force Base - delivering a big sales pitch for the team hoping to
launch a fourth craft in the constellation.
Overcoming three
delays, the United Launch Alliance rocket finally lifted off into a dark and
mostly clear sky at 6:31 p.m. Saturday from Space Launch Complex-2.
The flame of the
12-story rocket created a bright beacon of light, illuminating the landscape
until it looked like daylight for a few seconds, observers noted. As Delta
climbed, the star-filled sky allowed onlookers to watch the vehicle's four
solid rocket boosters fall away and see the flight long after it left the
It takes a
great deal of communications and teamwork to make a launch happen and the use
of the Western Range by our Italian partners is rewarding for Team
Vandenberg, said Col. Steve Tanous, 30th Space
Wing commander who also served as spacelift commander
for Vandenberg's last launch of the year.
Delta carried the
second COSMO-SkyMed, which stands for Constellation
of Small Satellites for Mediterranean basin Observation. The radar-imaging
satellite was manufactured by Thales Alenia Space for
the Italian Space Agency and the Italian Ministry of Defense.
About an hour
after the launch, officials confirmed the satellite had separated from the
rocket, and that ground controllers were communicating with the craft.
It's a 100
percent successful mission," said Mike Rein, a United Launch Alliance
spokesman.
A crowd of
between 60 and 100 Italians, including high-level government and industry
officials, had gathered this week at Vandenberg for Delta's departure.
They cheered
very loudly," Rein added.
COSMO-1 launched
into orbit from June 7 to cheers and tears of Italians at Vandenberg. Within a
month Boeing officials has secured the contract to launch COSMO-3 to space on a
Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg.
That launch is
scheduled for the second half of 2008.
COSMO-4 is the
last of the four-satellite constellation and the American rocket firm is
competing against the French rocket makers for the rights to carry the craft.
Arianespace
has been very vocal about also wanting an opportunity to bid for that
particular mission so we'll see just how that goes, said Ken Heinly, vice president of Boeing Launch Services.
He anticipates
that the Italians will chose a launch provided early next year for what's
expected to be a 2009 launch.
This mission also
comes as United Launch Alliance marked on Dec. 1 the first anniversary of a
marriage of Boeing and Lockheed Martin's expendable launch vehicle activities.
One year
ago, we officially opened our doors with our stated mission of providing the
best expendable launch systems and services to assure access to space for our
customers at a lower cost, said Michael C. Gass,
president and chief executive officer of ULA.
During its first
year ULA saw 11 launches from both Vandenberg and Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station,
Now we're in
the second year we've got to do better, said Kris Walsh, ULA director of
NASA and commercial programs for the Delta rocket.
The next Delta 2
rocket launch from Vandenberg is tentatively set for April. Also in the new year, ULA will debut the first West Coast Atlas 5
launch.
Janene Scully can be reached at
739-2214 or janscully@lompocrecord.com.
http://www.lompocrecord.com/articles/2007/12/09/news/news02.txt
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