[Launch Alert] Thursday Rocket Launch

Tue Jun 5 23:36:32 EDT 2007

                             LAUNCH ALERT

			            Brian Webb
		         Ventura County, California
		            kd6nrp at earthlink.net
	                  www.spacearchive.info

				               2007 June 5 (Tuesday) 19:30 PDT
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 BOEING ANNOUNCES LAUNCH DATE FOR ITALY'S COSMO SCIENTIFIC SATELLITE

ST. LOUIS, June 1— Boeing [NYSE: BA] announced that the first
commercial launch of the Constellation of Small Satellites for
Mediterranean basin Observation (COSMO) SkyMed for Italy is scheduled
for June 7 aboard a Delta II rocket.

The launch will take place from Pad SLC-2W at Vandenberg Air Force
Base in California (VAFB), with a launch window that extends from 7:21
p.m. PDT to 7:34 p.m. PDT.

The COSMO-SkyMed program was developed by Thales Alenia Space Italia
for the Italian Space Agency and the Italian Ministry of Defence. It
is an end-to-end Earth observation dual-use (civil and military)
system composed of four medium-sized satellites and supporting ground
stations for orbit control systems and data reception and processing.
The system will take imagery of the Earth using an X-Band Synthetic
Aperture Radar instrument at the request of institutional and
commercial users, including members of the defense, civil and
scientific communities.

Boeing Launch Services procured the launch vehicle and associated
support services from the United Launch Alliance. A Delta II 7420-10
configuration launch vehicle will be used to deploy the COSMO-SkyMed
spacecraft to low earth orbit approximately 58 minutes after liftoff.

Updated information is available on the Boeing Launch Hotline (714)
896-4770.

Boeing will broadcast the launch throughout the continental United
States at:

Satellite: AMC 2 K01
Orbital Location: 85 Degrees West
Downlink Frequency: 11720.00 MHz Vertical 36 MHz
Audio: Channel 1 English and Channel 2 Italian

The broadcast will begin at 36 minutes prior to the opening of the
launch window, and will end 71 minutes after liftoff.

A 60-minute test signal will be broadcast on June 6 from 10:00 a.m. to
11:00 a.m. PDT. The test will include bars, tone and an identifying
slate.

Boeing will webcast the launch at:

http://www.boeing.com/news/feature/livewebcast/bls_webcast.html

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one
of the world's largest space and defense businesses specializing in
innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions. Headquartered
in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $32.4 billion
business with 72,000 employees worldwide.

The above information was adapted from a Boeing press release

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                          LAUNCH VISIBILITY

For observers in California, Thursday's Delta II launch from
Vandenberg AFB is a daylight event. Assuming clear skies, the liftoff
should be visible to the naked eye within 100 miles of the launch pad.

As the rocket heads southward, alert observers along the coast between
Vandenberg and San Diego should be able to see at least part of the
first stage burn.

After the Sun goes down, there's a chance that there will be enough of
the rocket's exhaust in the upper atmosphere to catch the Sun's rays
and create an interesting display.

If this occurs, the photographers among you may want to photograph the
glowing apparition every minute or so and combine the still images to
create an interesting time-lapse movie.

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