United Launch Alliance Successfully Launches NASA/NOAA Weather Satellite

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Mar 04, 2010, 11:58 ET

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., March 4 /PRNewswire/ -- United Launch Alliance, on behalf of Boeing Launch Services, successfully launched the third of three next-generation Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) missions for NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The satellite, designated GOES P was launched aboard a Delta IV rocket from Space Launch Complex-37 at 6:57 p.m. EST. The first GOES satellite in the series, designated GOES N, was launched here on May 24, 2006. The second, GOES O, was launched here June 27, 2009. This GOES P launch was ULA's 39th launch in 39 months since the company's inception in December 2006.

Following a nominal four hour, 21-minute flight, the Delta IV deployed the spacecraft. The multi-mission GOES series of satellites will provide NOAA and NASA scientists with data to support weather, solar and space operations, and will enable future science improvements in weather prediction and remote sensing. Additionally, GOES P will provide data on global climate changes and capability for search and rescue.

"This has been a tremendous nearly four-year partnership to place all three GOES satellites in their proper orbit," said Jim Sponnick, ULA vice president, Delta Product Line. "ULA congratulates Boeing and its NASA and NOAA customers for the successful launch of GOES P. The GOES series will improve weather forecasting across the globe. The weather disasters of the past five years across the world have clearly shown how important these satellites are to all of humanity."

The Delta IV Medium+ (4,2) configuration launch vehicle used a single common booster core with a Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RS-68 main engine, two Alliant Techsystems GEM 60 solid rocket motors, a PWR RL10B-2 upper stage engine and a four-meter diameter upper stage and composite payload fairing. The GOES P launch marked the fifth flight of the Delta IV Medium+ (4,2) configuration and the 12th flight of the Delta IV family of launch vehicles.

ULA's next launch, currently scheduled for April 19, is the Orbital Test Vehicle mission for the Department of Defense aboard an Atlas V from Space Launch Complex-41 at CCAFS.

ULA program management, engineering, test and mission support functions are headquartered in Denver, Colo. Manufacturing, assembly and integration operations are located at Denver, Colo.; Decatur, Ala.; Harlingen, Texas; and San Diego, Calif. Launch operations are located at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., and Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

For more information on the ULA joint venture, visit the ULA Website at www.ulalaunch.com, or call the ULA Launch Hotline at 1-877-ULA-4321 (852-4321).

SOURCE United Launch Alliance