Low-altitude rocket launched from NM Spaceport
Posted at: 08/04/2009 9:19 AM
| Updated at: 08/04/2009 12:49 PM
By: TIM KORTE, Associated Press Writer
UPHAM, N.M. (AP) - A Florida-based avionics company successfully fired what officials hope will be the first of two low-altitude rocket launches Tuesday at the New Mexico Spaceport.
Moog Industries fired the rocket at 8:39 a.m. MDT after a roughly 90-minute delay brought on by a glitch in a GPS antenna.
New Mexico Spaceport officials say the research and development test is important because it demonstrates commercial applications beyond space flights for tourists.
It was not immediately clear if a second launch planned late Tuesday morning could go ahead, but spaceport officials have said that if successful, it would be the first time a private company completed two launches from the same site in one day.
The first rocket lifted 2,200 feet above the New Mexico desert, then glided in for a belly landing.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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