CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla. - A rocket carrying a satellite used for communication by the United States Air Force lifted off Wednesday night.
The Atlas V launched at 8:22 p.m. EDT. It is carrying a Wideband Global SATCOM satellite and is the first of at least five satellites scheduled to be placed in orbit by the end of 2008.
The satellite system will replace the current Defense Satellite Communications System that has been used for military communications for the last two decades.
This first satellite will cover the Pacific Zone, which includes Hawaii, Japan and Southeast Asia. Each spacecraft will cost $350 million.
The old system will be used in conjunction with the new Wideband Glogal SATCOM system until it is phased out in the next few years.
Col. David Urich, the Military Satellite Communications Systems Wing vice commander, said the first launch alone "will provide more capacity than all the current DSCS satellites currently in use."
The launch was scheduled for Tuesday but was delayed a day as engineers checked data that might have indicated the Atlas V rocket would have fallen short of its intended orbit.
