Delta IV Rocket Launches from Cape Canaveral with US Military Satellite

By Nancy Atkinson - January 20, 2012 at 6:02 AM UTC | Missions

A beautiful night for a launch Thursday evening as a heavy-lift Delta IV rocket thundered off the launchpad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, sending a broadband communications satellite into orbit for the US military. Observers at the launch site said they could see the rocket several minutes into the flight, witnessing the separation of the strap-on boosters.

The WGS-4 mission is the fourth satellite for the Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) system. The WGS satellites will provide enhanced communications capabilities to US soldiers in the field for the next decade and beyond.

"It's a great feeling to see the launch of this WGS satellite, especially knowing how important this constellation is to our troops in the field," said Captain Tim Trimailo from the US Air Force. "This system provides voice, data and commanding at roughly ten times the rate previously available to an increased number of users. Those users include ground forces, US embassies and airborne assets, which in today's war are key capabilities. WGS enables more users to get more information faster and that's what keeps us ahead of the enemy."

$464-million spacecraft was built by Boeing, and the 66-meter- (217-foot)-long rocket was built by the Boeing-Lockheed Martin partnership of the United Launch Alliance. It lifted off at 7:38 p.m. EST (0038 GMT Friday). This was the first of 12 launches planned from Cape Canaveral this year.

In addition to linking ground troops and command stations, the satellite will be used to route tracking and data streams from unmanned aerial drones.

More info:

United Launch Alliance

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com