The Boeing Company has announced the successful launch of a spacecraft for the Italian Constellation of Small Satellites for Mediterranean basin Observation (COSMO).
The COSMO spacecraft, the fourth in a series of SkyMed launches, lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, US, at 7:20pm on Friday and was deployed to low earth orbit within 58 minutes of lift off.
93 consecutive launches
Ken Heinly, director, Boeing Launch Products & Services, and president, Boeing Launch Services Inc, said: “This fourth Delta launch for the COSMO-SkyMed program continues the unparalleled reliability and accurate performance of the Delta II rocket with 93 consecutive successful launches since 1997.”
Boeing Launch Services launched the preceding COSMO-SkyMed satellites in June and December 2007 and October 2008.
Thales Alenia Space developed the COSMO-SkyMed program for the Italian Space Agency and the Italian Ministry of Defence. The system will take images of the Earth using for civil, scientific and defence use.
