The bad string of luck for a rocket made by Washington-area company continued Friday with another failed launch of a NASA satellite.
The Associated Press reported that a Taurus XL rocket manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corporation in Dulles launched Friday morning from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California but crashed into the water several minutes later.
“Indications are that the satellite and rocket … is in the southern Pacific Ocean somewhere,” NASA launch director Omar Baez said Friday.
Despite its California launch point, the three-year, $424 million mission was based in NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt. It aimed to track climate change by studying airborne particles.
The rocket was transporting a NASA Glory satellite. Officials said a protective shell did not properly release, trapping the satellite out of orbit.
The same problem happened during a NASA launch in 2009 using the same kind of rocket. After that failed launch NASA spent a year investigating problems and redesigning the protective cover removal trigger.
Taurus rockets have launched nine times in total, six successfully.
Another launch is scheduled for 2013 following a “mishap investigation board,” which will include Orbital officials.
