A National Reconnaissance Office payload was successfully launched aboard an Atlas IIAS rocket from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Dec. 2 at 5:04 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
"This launch was a tremendous team effort by the Air Force, the NRO and our industry partners," said Col. Chip Zakrzewski, director of the NRO's Office of Space Launch and mission director for the launch. "It provides the nation's leadership and its warfighters another tool to help fight the war on terrorism."
The Lockheed-Martin Atlas IIAS was launched from Vandenberg's Launch Complex 3E.
