A rocket carrying a spacecraft that will study dust particles and atmosphere on the moon was launched late Friday Friday night from Wallops Island, Va.
Cheering the flight on were a number of employees from Delaware and Maryland who work at the ATK Elkton site.
A Minotaur V rocket launched the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer. (LADEE). The spacecraft will orbit the moon, collect data and when its propellant is gone will crash on the lunar surface.
On the flight was ATK’s STAR 48BV motor as the fourth stage for Orbital’s Minotaur V launch vehicle. The motor was manufactured in Elkton. ATK’s Missile Defense & Controls is headquartered in Elkton.
Technologies include propulsion, tactical rocket motors, gas generators, missile-defense interceptor propulsion and control systems, and commercial energetics.
Wallops Island is taking on greater importance in the space program as the private sector becomes more involved in space flights.
The launch could be seen from a large area of the Mid-Atlantic region on a clear evening.
The Wallops spaceport has been viewed as an economic development opportunity for southern Delaware if growth continues at the site.
