Cracked Pad 37 on the Mend: Delta IV on Schedule for August Launch

CAPE CANAVERAL - The 23rd and last defense satellite of its kind is backon schedule for a mid-August launch, after damage to pad 37 delayed the launch.

The 5,000-pound satellite will be carried into orbit aboardULA's Delta IV Heavy, which is configured by binding three Delta IV common corerocket boosters together.

It will be only the second Delta IV Heavy to blast off fromthe Cape. The first launch was in December 2004, when the maiden flight failedto deliver its payload to the desired orbit -- missing one of the test mission'seight objectives.

Patrick passed away in 2022 after a long career as an award-winning freelance journalist and writer covering science, technology, and the U.S. space program. In 2005, Patrick went to work as a business writer and senior reporter at Florida Today in Melbourne covering technology companies and space science, expanding his skills to include videography. As a metro editor at the paper, he instructed reporters to file stories from out in field using wireless tech. His work appeared at Space.com and numerous other online sites and publications.