Officials have scheduled the next launch attempt of a Boeing Delta II launch vehicle carrying the ARGOS satellite for the U.S. Air Force for
Tuesday, Feb. 23, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The one-hour
launch window opens at 2:10 a.m. PST.
The launch was scrubbed Saturday morning after a momentary spike in
one of the two power sources to the first stage electronics package
was observed. The Boeing team isolated the cause to the first stage
center body which houses the power and control box and the first stage
electronics package. Technicians replaced both the power and control
box and electronics package and are performing revalidation tests on
the hardware and wiring.
The ARGOS launch has two NASA-sponsored secondary payloads, the Orsted
satellite for Denmark and the SUNSAT micro-satellite for South Africa.
The launch will be broadcast live beginning at 2 a.m. PST and ending
after spacecraft separation, approximately one hour and 40 minutes later.
The satellite coordinates are Ku-band: GE 3, transponder 19 at 87 degrees
West. Uplink frequency is 14380 horizontal, Downlink frequency 12080
vertical.
