ATLAS LAUNCH SUCCESSFUL

Team Vandenberg successfully launched a commercial satellite on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket provided by Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services from Space Launch Complex-3 here Friday, Nov. 11, at 10:30 a.m. PST.

Col. Chris Moss, 30th Space Wing commander, was the launch decision authority.

"This flawless launch was the result of extraordinary teamwork between the 30th Space Wing and our United Launch Alliance partner following the extensive fires on Vandenberg in September," said Moss. "What this team has accomplished in such a short time is absolutely amazing. Hundreds of people worked tirelessly over the past weeks to make this happen."

The 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg Air Force Base is responsible for safety and launch operations from the Western Range.

"A launch like this takes teamwork and dedication across the 30 SW and our mission partners," said Lt. Col. Eric Zarybnisky, 4th Space Launch Squadron commander. "Our mission assurance technicians and engineers have worked hand-in-hand with United Launch Alliance over this extended campaign going over critical procedures and tasks to ensure this launch is successful."

The Atlas V rocket carried the DigitalGlobe WorldView-4 satellite built by Lockheed Martin.

The satellite will more than double DigitalGlobe's coverage of the world's highest-resolution commercial imagery and increase the rate at which it grows its 15-year library of time-lapse high-resolution imagery. WorldView-4 will orbit Earth every 90 minutes, traveling 17,000 miles per hour and capturing more than 680,000 square kilometers of the Earth's surface daily (18 terabytes) - the equivalent of the land area of Texas.