[Launch Alert] Vandenberg AFB Launch Schedule

Mon Aug 31 21:59:02 EDT 2009

                             LAUNCH ALERT

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

                                 2009 August 31 (Monday) 18:45 PDT
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                   VANDENBERG AFB LAUNCH SCHEDULE
                         As of 2009 August 31

                     Launch
                  Time/Window
  Date             (PST/PDT)             Vehicle        Pad/Silo
--------        ---------------         ----------      --------

OCT 6           ~11:35                  Delta II        SLC-2W
Payload is the WorldView-2 commercial reconnaissance satellite.  

OCT 22          Evening                 Minotaur IV     SLC-8
First-ever Minotaur IV launch. Payload is the Space-Based Space
Surveillance (SBSS) satellite.  

NET DEC 7       To be announced         Delta II        SLC-2W
Payload is the WISE scientific satellite.  

NET APR 1       To be announced         Taurus          576-E
Payload is the Glory scientific satellite.  

Unknown         ~09:12                  Atlas V         SLC-3
Payload is the DMSP F18 military weather satellite.  

The above schedule is a composite of unclassified information
approved for public release from government, industry, and other
sources. It represents the Editor's best effort to produce a schedule,
but may disagree with other sources. Details on military launches are
withheld until they are approved for public release. For official
information regarding Vandenberg AFB activities, go to
http://www.vandenberg.af.mil.

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              BALL AEROSPACE-BUILT WORLDVIEW-2 SATELLITE
                ARRIVES AT VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE

             Ball Aerospace & Technologies News Release
                            2009 August 27

BOULDER, Colo. -- Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. announced today
that its WorldView-2 remote sensing satellite built for DigitalGlobe
has arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base for a scheduled October 6,
2009 launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket into a
Sun-synchronous orbit. 

Ball Aerospace announced that it had completed environmental testing
for WorldView-2 on August 5. The satellite was then shipped to Lompoc,
California to begin on-site testing prior to launch. Over the next
several weeks, engineers will integrate the satellite with the launch
vehicle and perform extensive tests to ensure the satellite and rocket
can launch successfully. 

The Ball Aerospace BCP 5000 spacecraft, utilized for both the
WorldView-1 and Worldview-2, is designed to handle both
next-generation optical and synthetic aperture radar remote sensing
payloads and is currently meeting or exceeding all performance
specifications on the operational WorldView-1 satellite.
The high-performance BCP 5000 has a design life of more than seven
years, and provides a platform with increased power, agility,
flexibility, transmission capability and data storage. The
spacecraft's control-moment gyroscopes will afford the flexibility to
capture more imagery than ever before. 

DigitalGlobe is a leading provider of commercial high-resolution,
world imagery products and services. 

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. supports critical missions of
important national agencies such as the Department of Defense, NASA,
NOAA and other U.S. government and commercial entities. The company
develops and manufactures spacecraft, advanced instruments and
sensors, components, data exploitation systems and RF solutions for
strategic, tactical and scientific applications. 

Ball Corporation (NYSE: BLL) is a supplier of high-quality metal and
plastic packaging for beverage, food and household products customers,
and of aerospace and other technologies and services, primarily for
the U.S. government. Ball Corporation and its subsidiaries employ more
than 14,000 people worldwide and reported 2008 sales of approximately
$7.6 billion. 

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        MISSILE DEFENSE ELEMENTS PARTICIPATE IN AIR FORCE TEST
              Missile Defense Agency News Release
                           2009 August 25

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) successfully completed an exercise
involving Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) elements and
emerging technologies, which gathered data during a routine
operational test of a U.S. Air Force strategic missile from Vandenberg
AFB, Calif., conducted August 23, 2009.

Participating MDA assets included the Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX),
the transportable AN/TPY-2 X-band radar and the External Sensors
Laboratory. Data collected during the exercise will be used to improve
sensor capabilities and as risk reduction for future BMDS tests.

The Air Force test, called Glory Trip 195, was part of a continuing
program to evaluate and demonstrate the operational readiness of our
ground-based strategic deterrent force. The ability to utilize a
target of opportunity allows MDA to conduct numerous important
exercises and obtain extensive data without incurring the expense
associated with launching a test-specific target missile

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