Minotaur l launches TacSat 2 from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, Wallops Island, Va. 12-16-2006
Virginia's Wallops Island hosted its first space launch in seven years this morning when a Minotaur rocket blazed a trail into orbit with a U.S. Air Force demonstration satellite.
Liftoff of the 69-foot tall booster occurred at 7:00 a.m. EST (1200 GMT) from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on the southern tip of Wallops Island, Va.
The four-stage booster flew toward the rising Sun as it headed southeast away from the U.S. East Coast. Deployment of the TacSat 2 primary payload came 11 minutes after launch, according to the NASA Wallops Flight Facility. 12-16-2006
NASA's tiny GeneSat 1 research craft was released into space ten minutes later, and controllers later confirmed they had received the first signals from the nanosatellite.
Read MoreLiftoff of the 69-foot tall booster occurred at 7:00 a.m. EST (1200 GMT) from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on the southern tip of Wallops Island, Va.
The four-stage booster flew toward the rising Sun as it headed southeast away from the U.S. East Coast. Deployment of the TacSat 2 primary payload came 11 minutes after launch, according to the NASA Wallops Flight Facility. 12-16-2006
NASA's tiny GeneSat 1 research craft was released into space ten minutes later, and controllers later confirmed they had received the first signals from the nanosatellite.
Minotaur TacSat2 12-16-2006
