Read
Reuters Photojournalism
Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption
Devastated by tornado
A huge tornado tears through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, killing dozens. Slideshow
Nuclear tsunami wall
Safety upgrades designed to prevent a repeat of the Fukushima disaster. Slideshow
Sponsored Links
Secret payload launched on largest West Coast rocket
A Delta IV Heavy Launch Vehicle launches from Space Launch Complex-6 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, January 20.
Credit: Reuters/Chris Ghormley/US Air Force
LOS ANGELES |
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The largest rocket ever launched from the U.S. West Coast blasted off on Thursday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, carrying a top secret satellite into orbit, military officials said.
The Delta IV Heavy rocket stood 23 stories tall, and its engines produced 2 million pounds of thrust, according to the 30th Space Wing of the U.S. Air Force.
Blasting off at 1:10 p.m. Pacific time from Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg in California, the rocket carried a payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, military officials said. The nature of the payload was secret.
But the Los Angeles Times cited analysts who said it was a spy satellite, capable of snapping pictures detailed enough to distinguish the model of a car hundreds of miles below.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis: Editing by Steve Gorman)
- Tweet this
- Link this
- Share this
- Digg this
- Reprints
It’s interesting to speculate about why the satellite is so heavy.
Follow Reuters