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Athena II
Launched 1999-09-24 18:21:08 UTCSpace Launch Complex 6, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Success
Reached Polar Orbit
Worldwide
53rd
orbital launch attempt in 1999
Lockheed Martin
6th
launch this year
Space Launch Complex 6
2nd
launch from this pad this year
Pad turnaround
149 d 23 h
since the pad's previous launch
Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems, an operating unit of Missiles & Space, has revolutionized the space-based imagery market with the development of the first commercial satellite capable of resolving objects on the ground as small as one meter in diameter. The company is providing a spacecraft, designated IKONOS 1, for Space Imaging, Thornton, CO, which offers high-resolution imagery of the Earth to customers around the world.
Lockheed Martin's Space Division started in the production of missiles and later ICBM's in the 1950s. Their TITAN missile system was used for 12 Gemini spacecraft and the Voyager probes. They have worked largely in collaboration with NASA on many of their probes, landers, and spacecraft, and hope to play a key role in NASA's return to the moon in 2024.
Launches
80
Successful
77
96%
Upcoming
0
scheduled
Height
28.2m
Diameter
2.4m
To low Earth orbit
2,065kg
Liftoff thrust
1,900kN
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