The Canadian Space Agency's Scientific Satellite Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (SCISAT-1) is scheduled to launch on Tuesday, August 12, between 10:05 and 11:02 p.m. EDT. An L-1011 jet aircraft will take off from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB), Calif., carrying the Pegasus XL vehicle that will launch SCISAT-1 into space.
The L-1011 will drop the Pegasus, and its 330-pound spacecraft, over the Pacific Ocean, approximately 100 miles west of VAFB, at approximately 10:10 p.m. EDT.
The SCISAT-1 mission will provide scientists with improved measurements of the chemical processes that control the distribution of ozone in Earth's atmosphere, particularly at high latitudes. The SCISAT spacecraft will enter a 400-mile-high polar orbit at an inclination of 73.9 degrees.
