NASA set to launch DOD rocket from Va. spaceport

[June 27, 2011]  WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. (AP) -- NASA is preparing to launch a Department of Defense satellite from the Wallops Flight Facility at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia.

The Air Force Minotaur 1 rocket is scheduled for launch Tuesday.

The rocket will carry the first operational satellite for the Department of Defense's Operationally Responsive Space Office. The Minotaur 1 rocket is about 70 feet tall and 5 feet wide.

It's set for launch between 8:28 p.m. and 11:28 p.m. The backup launch days are Wednesday through July 10.

The launch may be visible from southern New York to North Carolina. It may be seen as far west from the Atlantic Coast as West Virginia and western Pennsylvania.

This will be the fourth Minotaur 1 rocket launched from Wallops Flight Facility and the spaceport since December 2006.

[Associated Press]

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