Boeing Delta II Successfully Deploys QuickBird Satellite.Business Editors & High-Tech Writers VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE Vandenberg Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 3,456 acres (1,399 hectares), SW Calif., near Lompoc; chief Pacific coast launch site for military satellites. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 18, 2001 A Boeing (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :BA) Delta II This article is about the rocket. For the submarine see Delta class submarine. Delta II is a space launch system originally designed and built by McDonnell Douglas, then later built by Integrated Defense Systems division of Boeing. 7320-10 rocket lifted off today from Space Launch Complex 2W at Vandenberg Air Force Base, at 11:51 a.m. PDT PDT abbr. Pacific Daylight Time PDT Pacific Daylight Time PDT n abbr (US) (= Pacific Daylight Time) → hora de verano del Pacífico PDT carrying the DigitalGlobe QuickBird imaging satellite. One hour and 30 seconds later, the spacecraft was successfully deployed to a sun-synchronous orbit An orbit in which the satellite's orbital plane is at a fixed orientation to the sun, i.e., the orbit precesses about the earth at the same rate that the earth orbits the sun. It has the characteristics of maintaining similar sun angles along its ground trace for all orbits, and typically . Today's launch is the first of two Delta II launches
Date (UTC) Type Ser.-No. at Vandenberg this year for the Boeing Delta team. The Boeing Delta II was selected by DigitalGlobe to deploy QuickBird because of the launch vehicle's 100 percent mission success record since 1997. "Today's successful mission continues the Boeing Delta II's reputation of reliability," said Jay Witzling, vice president, Delta and Titan deputy program manager for Boeing Expendable Launch Systems. "I'm also proud of our Delta team in deploying QuickBird for DigitalGlobe in less than a year from the time we received the order, proving our team's capability to meet our customers' scheduling requirements." "The Boeing company has been fantastic during the launch campaign, they have been able to meet all of our accelerated schedule needs. Bottom line is that they met the schedule and deployed our satellite using the most reliable rocket," stated Herb Satterlee, president and chief executive officer of DigitalGlobe. Satterlee also stated: "Our customers worldwide have been anticipating this launch for quite some time and we are very pleased to announce a successful deployment of the world's highest resolution commercial imaging satellite, QuickBird." Applications of the QuickBird satellite include mapping, urban planning, agricultural monitoring, environmental impact assessment, and disaster assessment and response. QuickBird is owned and operated by DigitalGlobe of Longmont, Colo. The developer of the spacecraft is Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of Boulder, Colo. The Boeing Co., with headquarters in Chicago, is the largest aerospace company in the world and the United States' leading exporter. It is the world's largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft, and the largest NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. contractor. The company's capabilities in aerospace also include rotorcraft ro·tor·craft n. An aircraft, especially a helicopter, that is kept partially or completely airborne by airfoils rotating around a vertical axis. , electronic and defense systems, missiles, rocket engines, launch vehicles, satellites and advanced information and communication systems. The company has an extensive global reach with customers in 145 countries and manufacturing operations throughout the United States, Canada and Australia. Note to Editors: Delta II/QuickBird mission information is available on the Boeing Web site at: http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/delta/delta2/quickbird/ |
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