A Boeing Delta II 7925-9.5 expendable launch vehicle
lifted off this afternoon at 1:45 p.m. EDT from Space Launch
Complex-17B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, carrying a satellite
for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).
The satellite, GeoLITE (Geosynchronous Lightweight Technology
Experiment), is an advanced technology demonstration satellite with a
laser communications experiment and an operational UHF communications
mission. GeoLITE was built by TRW of Redondo Beach, Calif., and will
be operated by the NRO once in orbit.
“As we continue to provide the government with assured access to
space with our reliable Delta II, we are confident that we will also
continue to build long-term relationships with organizations like the
NRO that will carry into our Delta IV launch vehicles,” said Gale
Schluter, vice president of Boeing Expendable Launch Systems.
The Boeing Delta II maintains a 100 percent success rate since
1997 and is capable of delivering payloads of 898 kg to 2,030 kg to
geosynchronous transfer orbit. The NRO, a Department of Defense agency
located in Chantilly, Va., is responsible for the engineering,
development, acquisition and operation of space reconnaissance
systems.
