NOAA’s new JPSS 1 weather satellite deployed from its Delta 2 launcher in an orbit more than 500 miles (800 kilometers) above Earth nearly one hour after blasting off from California.
Fully fueled with a launch mass around 5,025 pounds (2,280 kilograms), the JPSS 1 satellite is beginning a seven-year mission collecting atmospheric measurements to help maintain and improve the accuracy of medium-range global forecasts.
This video shows the JPSS 1 spacecraft separating from the Delta rocket’s second stage as seen from a camera on-board the rocket downlinked through a ground station in South Africa. Separation of JPSS 1 occurred around 57-and-a-half minutes after launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
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