JPSS-1 launched

Source: First-of-Its-Kind Satellite Launches to Track Earth's Weather Like Never Before

The first in a series of four advanced polar-orbiting satellites launched to space on its third try early Saturday (Nov. 18), turning its watchful eye to improving the accuracy of weather forecasts and Earth observations.

The new Joint Polar Satellite System-1 satellite, or JPSS-1, launched into orbit atop a United Launch Alliance-built Delta II rocket at 4:47 a.m. EST (0947 GMT), . . .​

Another more technical report: Penultimate Delta 2 rocket launch lofts advanced polar-orbiting weather satellite – Spaceflight Now

Saturday’s launch marked second-to-last flight of the venerable Delta 2 rocket, which has conducted 154 missions since its introduction in 1989, launching interplanetary missions to the moon, Mercury, Mars, comets and asteroids, NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler observatory, and numerous commercial and military satellites, including the bulk of the GPS navigation network in the 1990s and 2000s.

The Delta 2 traces its heritage back to the Thor missile from the Cold War era.

One more Delta 2 is set to launch from Vandenberg in September 2018 with NASA’s ICESat 2 mission.​

Bob Wilson