Air Force Launches Military Weather Satellite
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE — An Air Force booster rocket propelled a military weather satellite into a near-polar orbit in a predawn launch Thursday that startled residents for miles around.
The Atlas E booster rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 5:23 a.m., successfully placing a Defense Meteorological Satellite Program payload into orbit, the Air Force said.
The satellite tracks weather patterns in remote areas as well as space environmental phenomena. The information is used by the military and civilian agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Thursday’s launch was the 500th for the Atlas Program, the Air Force said. The Atlas E is a refurbished intercontinental ballistic missile converted into a space launch vehicle.
Dispatchers with the Santa Barbara Police Department and the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department received numerous telephone calls from residents startled by the rocket launch.
Stephen Mead of Carpinteria said he saw the rocket as he was driving to his job near Summerland, more than 40 miles south of Vandenberg. The streaking rocket looked like a fireball as it lit up the sky, he said.
Vandenberg is about 125 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
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