Vandenberg – April 26, 1999 – The second commercial use of the Athena II launch vehicle is set for next week, as the final countdown for the most advanced remote sensing satellite yet lofted is to finally get underway.
Athena II no. 2 is to blast Ikonos 1 into orbit Tuesday April 27th from SLC-6 at Vandenberg Air base California. The Ikonos 1 will provide ground-based users one meter resolution from low Earth orbit, a first for the remote sensing industry.
The mission has been delayed for more than a year due to technical issues with the Ikonos satellite and optics payload. A second, identical Ikonos is to be launched later in 1999 to provide a dual-satellite capability for the firm, Space Imaging.
The Athena II marks its second launch in Tuesday's mission. It's last flight was to launch the NASA Lunar Prospector from the commercial pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida on January 6, 1998. The launch and mission was a success, resulting in the confirmation of water ice at the lunar poles.
The first successful commercial Athena 1 launch, a smaller vehicle variant, took place on Aug. 22, 1997 lifting the NASA/TRW Lewis satellite. Lewis was eventually lost and abandoned by NASA.
Athena II rockets can lift 4,350 pounds into LEO. Liftoff of the Ikonos mission is scheduled for 2:21pm EDT Tuesday April 27th.
Athena 1 + 2 Reports at SpaceDaily
