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. REUTERS/Chris Ghormley/US Air Force

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

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LOS ANGELES | Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:05pm EST

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)
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Comments (2)
breezinthru wrote:
I am sure that the satellite is not just a spy satellite capable of distinguishing the model of a car.

It’s interesting to speculate about why the satellite is so heavy.

Jan 23, 2011 9:44am EST  --  Report as abuse
kc10man wrote:
Its so heavy because its not a standard satellite. It’s a drone. The second one launched by the AF. It is capable of orbiting the Earth for over 1 year, than at a moments notice plummet to the Earth and drop its payload on whatever organization/country the president determines to hit. Since it is not nuclear it is legal. But the Gov still likes to hide this capability as it is new age and in the proving stage. Expect it to descend in six months or so and drop its load somewhere in the Mohave.

Jan 26, 2011 4:18am EST  --  Report as abuse
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