NASA launched the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) on 26 August, using a Delta 2 rocket. On 21 August, the first Delta 2 launch by Boeing since its acquisition of McDonnell Douglas placed five craft into orbit.
The first of the two Delta 7960 two-stage models was launched from Vandenberg AFB, California, carrying five Motorola Iridium satellites into low-Earth orbit. The launch brought to 22 the number of the global-telecommunications-system craft in orbit.
A total of 66 operational satellites is planned to be in orbit by September 1998, and 23 of the remaining 44 to be launched will be aboard the Delta. The service will be introduced commercially once the 66 satellites are in place.
The second 7960 was launched from Canaveral on 26 August, placing the ACE observatory into an initial elliptical-transfer orbit.
Source: Flight International
