Contact: Barron Beneski, (703) 406-5000, beneski.barron@orbital.com
Earlier this morning, Orbital’s Pegasus rocket successfully completed its 30th overall mission when it successfully launched NASA’s HETE-2 satellite in a mission conducted from the Kwajalein Missile Range located in the central Pacific Ocean.
At approximately 12:45 a.m. Eastern time, Orbital’s L-1011 carrier aircraft took off and flew a predetermined course to point over the Pacific where the Pegasus rocket was released at about 1:40 a.m. Approximately 11 minutes later, Pegasus accurately deployed the small scientific satellite into a 590 by 650 kilometer orbit, inclined a 2 degrees to the equator.
The successful launch of the HETE-2 satellite marks the 18th consecutive successful launch for Pegasus dating back to 1996.
