A new configuration of the Delta IV rocket left its Florida launch pad
on Saturday around 8:47 pm carrying a next-generation Air Force
satellite. Lift-off occurred at the very end of a 90-minute launch
window and after several days of delay caused by unfavorable weather
around Cape Canaveral.
The success is good news for United Launch Alliance (ULA), a 2006
joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing. ULA had never flown this
specific configuration of the rocket with the larger 5-meter payload
shroud and a total of 4 strap-on boosters.