Blogger update, 7:15 p.m.: ULA has confirmed successful separation of the spacecraft in orbit. A United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket has blasted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
The rocket lifted off at 4:24 p.m. EDT carrying an experimental satellite for the Missile Defense Agency.
The payload, called the Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) Advanced Technology Risk Reduction (ATRR), is scheduled to separate 58 minutes into flight.
NASA's Launch Services Program, which is based at Kennedy Space Center, oversaw the launch. No webcast or television coverage was provided.
Nine strap-on solid rocket boosters burned out and were jettisoned and first stage main engines cut off on schedule, according to ULA launch commentary. Payload fairing separation and second stage ignition followed.
The mission tests a space-based sensor component of a layered Ballistic Missile Defense System to detect, track and intercept ballistic missiles, according to ULA.
You can read more about the mission here.
IMAGE NOTE: A United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket blasted off from Space Launch Complex-2 launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., at 1:24 p.m. PDT. The Delta II successfully carried the Missile Defense Agency's Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) Advanced Technology Risk Reduction (ATRR)payload into orbit. Photo credit: Carleton Bailie, United Launch Alliance.
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