Navstar replacement
First off the booster 68 minutes after launch was a Navstar Global Positioning System satellite built by Lockheed Martin.
Officially known as GPS-2R8, this satellite was the eighth launched of the Block 2 configuration and the 48th overall since the first was orbited by the inaugural Delta 2 on Feb. 14, 1989.
This satellite will replace the 22nd GPS that was launched ten years ago, and will join a constellation of 26 operational spacecraft that continuously broadcasts a precise navigation signal to millions of users all over the world.
"GPS systems can be used by any person out there, whether it be my grandmother going in the car to the grocery store or Saddam Hussein," said Maj. Mike Mason, chief of GPS operations at U.S. Air Force Space Command in Colorado, noting that in Hussein's case the military does have the capability to "deny access" to the signal as needed.
From simple hand-held receivers available in consumer electronics stores to sophisticated dashboard units in airplanes, boats, automobiles -- event tractors on the family farm -- the military GPS system has created a commercial industry with more than $6 billion in sales, officials said.
"It has spawned a commercial base for many innovative uses beyond our wildest dreams when GPS was conceived back in the 1970s," said Col. Allan Ballenger, GPS program director at the Space and Missile Center in Los Angeles.
But the primary reason the GPS constellation exists is to serve the military.
"We're proud to serve our country by supporting the American fighting forces and our allies around the globe against the war on terrorism. The GPS satellite will continue to provide the most accurate position, time and velocity information available to man," Ballenger said.
Experimental satellite
Also riding the Delta 2 on its second stage was the Experimental Spacecraft System (XSS-10) micro-satellite, the centerpiece of a $100 million program led by the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico.
About the size of a Buick transmission and weighing only 62 pounds (28 kilograms), the small spacecraft is "a very significant advancement in space research and development," said Thom Davis, XSS-10 program manager.
The microsat is to be ejected from the Delta 2's second stage 16 hours after launch, or about 5:06 a.m. EST (1006 GMT) Thursday, and spend another eight hours or so flying a series of station keeping maneuvers with the help of a small television camera.
In addition to testing new guidance and navigation software, the spacecraft also will demonstrate new technologies involving a miniature communications system, a lightweight propulsion system and advanced lithium polymer batteries.
Davis said the experiment is "a building block for future microsat demonstrations. XSS-10 is a key element in acquiring the best balance between cost and capability, and will pave the way for future, low cost, on orbit servicing and other space missions."
Results of the test should be known almost immediately, Davis said.
Program officials said they hoped to release pictures of the Delta 2 second stage taken by the XSS-10 as soon as possible after the test concludes.
Spirit of 9-11
Getting almost as much attention as the mission itself was the fact that this Delta 2 vehicle carried on its nose cone a piece of artwork created in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
The art, created by Air Force Senior Airman Duane White from Langley Air Force Base, Va., includes the phrase "Let's Roll," a reference to the late Todd Beamer.
Beamer, a passenger on United flight 93, one of the four hijacked flights that day, along with some of his fellow passengers charged the terrorists who had seized control of the plane. Prior to rushing the hijackers, Beamer spoke to an emergency operator via cellular phone, told her of their plan and later could be heard saying "let's roll." The plane crashed in Pennsylvania.
Air Force leaders approved use of the artwork and are allowing each Air Force base to put the art on the nose of one of their aircraft, as well as on each of the jets that are part of the Thunderbirds demonstration team.
The 45th Space Wing, headquartered at Patrick Air Force Base and in charge of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, decided to put the art on the nose of this Delta 2.
"This is of significant importance to all of us. 'Let's Roll' captures the spirit of today's military; people who are ready, trained and who stand up and say 'send me,'" said Air Force Delta 2 launch director Lt. Col. Brad Broemmel said Tuesday. Two more Navstar GPS satellites are scheduled for launch this year, one in March and another in July.
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