| From: [email protected] (WILLIAM HARWOOD, UPI Science Writer)
Newsgroups: clari.tw.space,clari.news.aviation,clari.news.military
Subject: 200th Delta rocket successfully launched
Date: 31 Oct 90 05:25:58 GMT
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (UPI) -- A workhorse Delta rocket
successfully boosted a $90 million mobile communications satellite
into orbit after a picture-perfect launch, the 200th flight in the
booster program's 30- year history.
The flawless mission was the 22nd success in a row for
rocket-builder McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Co. of Huntington
Beach, Calif., and a major milestone for the International Maritime
Satellite Organization, owner of the relay station hurled into orbit
Tuesday.
``It was gorgeous, everything was normal,'' said Ahmad Ghais,
director of engineering and operations for the 62-nation Inmarsat
consortium.
The $50 million 126-foot Delta 2 thundered to life with a
ground- shaking roar on time at 6:16 p.m. EST and quickly climbed away
from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, knifing through a partly
cloudy sky in a fiery nighttime flight visible for miles around.
``This is the kind of flight we enjoy -- watching that bird go
up and do its job,'' said McDonnell Douglas launch commentator Ray
Adams as the Delta 2 streaked smoothly toward space.
The goal of the flight was the launch of Inmarsat-2 F1, the
first of a new generation of high-power communications satellites
built by British Aerospace for the International Maritime Satellite
Organization.
Twenty-two minutes after takeoff, the rocket's third stage
fired to put the solar-powered 2,100-pound satellite into a
preliminary elliptical orbit. About 20 minutes after that, the
satellite was safely pushed away from its spent third-stage, ending
the initial launch phase of the mission.
``We picked up the satellite after separation with our
tracking station in Indonesia and it looked like it was right on
track,'' Ghais said in a post-launch interview. ``Now it's up to us.''
An on-board liquid-fueled rocket system was scheduled to begin
firing Thursday to boost the satellite into a circular orbit 22,300
miles above the equator over the Indian Ocean .
``Inmarsat-2 is a new kind of satellite, specifically designed
to handle mobile communications applications,'' Inmarsat Director
General Olof Lundberg said in a statement. ``It will ... provide
communications to Earth stations small enough to be hand portable.''
The flight marked the 200th Delta mission dating back to May
13, 1960, when a less powerful version of the McDonnell Douglas
booster debuted carrying an Echo 1 communications satellite.
That mission ended in failure, but a Delta launched three
months later, on Aug. 12, 1960, was successful, kicking off one of the
most reliable American rocket programs ever mounted. In the 200
launches to date, only 12 were failures.
Constantly upgraded to improve performance, Delta rockets have
evolved through 16 different configurations. The Delta 2 currently in
service was built by McDonnell Douglas specifically to launch 20 Air
Force Global Positioning System satellites under contracts valued at
$669 million.
McDonnell Douglas also markets the rockets on a commercial
basis and with Tuesday's launch, the company's record stands at 22
successes in a row dating back to May 3, 1986, a perfect 13 straight
for the upgraded Delta 2.
Inmarsat-2 F1 is the first satellite owned and operated by the
London-based Inmarsat consortium, which has focused on providing
global satellite communications service for ships at sea using leased
radio transponders aboard eight other satellites.
Ghais said the organization plans to greatly expand service in
the 1990s to include users on the ground and in the air around the world.
The company's motto for its expanded service is ``global mobile.''
``Anyone on the go should be able to use our satellites to
communicate anywhere on Earth,'' Ghais said.
Inmarsat paid $160 million for its first wholly owned
satellite, the Delta 2 rocket and ground services. The price tag also
included the cost of about $70 million in insurance that was purchased
commercially at a rate of 16.5 percent. The balance of the mission
cost was self-insured by the company.
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