Thirteenth Pegasus Rocket Launch a Success for Orbital

Orbital Sciences Corp.'s (Dulles, VA) Pegasus rocket has successfully launched two satellites for US Government customers. In a mission carried out on Monday evening from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB), the Pegasus rocket accurately delivered the Tomographic Experiment using Radiative Recombinative Ionospheric EUV and Radio Sources (Terriers) satellite for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Later in the mission, Pegasus deployed the Multiple Path Beyond Line of Sight Communications (Mublcom) demonstration satellite into its targeted orbit for the US Department of Defense's Advanced Research Programs Agency (DARPA).

The Terriers/Mublcom mission was Orbital's second successful launch of the Pegasus rocket in 1999 and the 13th consecutive successful mission dating back to 1997. The 274-lb Terriers satellite will survey the Earth's upper atmosphere using a technique called tomography, measuring ultraviolet light emissions to create unprecedented three-dimensional images of the Earth's ionosphere. These studies will allow scientists to better predict space weather conditions in the ionosphere that could disrupt vital communications systems on Earth.

The Mublcom program is a partnership of Orbital, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the US Army Communications-Electronics Command.