Will Be Delayed "At Least" 48 Hours

NASA sources tell Aero-News a last-second problem with a locking pin forced the agency to scrub Wednesday morning's planned launch of an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket carrying three microsatellites as part of NASA's New Millennium Program.

The locking pin, part of the rocket's flight control service mechanism, failed to retract right before the Pegasus was to be launched from the program's Lockheed L-1011 jet at 6:25 am. The aircraft lifted off from Vandenberg AFB at approximately 6 am Wednesday morning, and had climbed to the launch altitude of 39,000 feet.

The L-1011 landed safely back at Vandenberg, with the Pegasus still firmly attached to beneath the aircraft's fuselage. Engineers at NASA and Orbital Sciences Corporation will now work to figure out what caused the malfunction.

NASA reports a new launch date will be established at the earliest opportunity -- pending resolution of the issue, the availability of the Western Range, and acceptable weather conditions at the Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA launch site. The delay will be at least 48 hours.

As Aero-News reported earlier this week, the Space Technology 5 mission is designed to test microsatellite technology in tracking space weather -- specifically, the strength of electrical currents in the ionosphere. Should the mission prove successful, it will pave the way for a wide range of uses for networked microsatellites.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/st-5/main/index.html