Vandenberg Air Force Base’s launch of a Delta-2 rocket during the early morning hours of Oct. 28 was a bittersweet moment for those on the ground who have followed the trustworthy program over the years.
Disappointment that it could be the reliable-yet-older rocket program’s last contracted launch was mixed with optimism about the brand-new Earth-observing satellite it was propelling into space.
The launch was significant in a number of ways: It was the last scheduled launch from the base for the year 2011, as well as the last for launch commander Col. Richard Boltz, who has presided over a number of Delta-2 launches out of Vandenberg and is set to step down in a change-of-command ceremony in January 2012.
Col. Nina Armagno, who currently serves as director of staff for Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, will take over for Boltz as 30th Space Wing Commander.
“It’s been a tremendous honor serving alongside the men and women who make Team Vandenberg the best launch team in the world,” Boltz said in a written statement.
But it was the possibility that the Delta-2 program had reached its end at the base that dominated thoughts during the launch.
According to United Launch Alliance (ULA) officials, the Delta-2 program has launched 151 times from both Vandenberg and Cape Canaveral, including 50 missions for NASA, touting a success rate of 98.7 percent.
On Sept. 30, ULA officials announced NASA agreed to include the Delta-2 program in competitive bidding processes with other rockets for upcoming missions, but no such bidding cycles are yet to begin.
No updates on the future of the Delta-2 program were available from NASA or ULA officials as of press time.
The launch was also significant because of what the rocket was carrying. The satellite for a NASA project will serve as a bridge between information gleaned from a series of weather-monitoring satellites launched over the last dozen years and an upcoming series of polar-orbiting vessels.
NASA is calling its project a “critical first step in building this next-generation satellite system.”
The satellite will record a variety of information, tracking climate change, recording the health of the ozone layer, monitoring natural disasters, and assisting in weather predictions.
This article appears in Nov 3-9, 2011.