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To: Maurice Winn who wrote (4465)	5/5/1999 2:14:00 AM
From: djane	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 29987

Boeing rocket launches but fate uncertain Tuesday May 4, 11:28 pm Eastern Time By Steven Young CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., May 4 (Reuters) - A Boeing Co. (BA - news) Delta 3 rocket blasted off on Tuesday from Cape Canaveral but ground controllers could not confirm if the $230 million satellite delivery mission was a success. In the first flight for the rocket since the booster exploded on its maiden flight last August, the 12-story launch vehicle lifted off at 9 p.m. EDT (0100 GMT). But officials said a firing of the rocket's upper stage 22 minutes later appeared to end prematurely, possibly leaving the satellite in a lower than planned orbit. ''We did have spacecraft separation, however indications are that the second burn of the second stage was shorter than nominal (normal),'' said Boeing launch commentator Greg High. ''At this point it is very unclear exactly what occurred after that.'' Boeing officials could not say how long the rocket operated. It was supposed to fire for 2 minutes, 40 seconds. The apparent setback was a bitter blow for Boeing, which was hoping its new Delta 3 rocket would help it win a larger piece of the lucrative space launch business. The maiden flight of the Delta 3 rocket on Aug. 26 ended just over a minute after launch in a mid-air explosion. Boeing engineers determined the rocket's guidance system overreacted to a normal vibration. A simple software correction was supposed to fix that problem. The rocket was carrying a communications satellite for Loral Space and Communications, which was to be stationed over Asia to provide television, Internet and other communications links. If the satellite is in a lower than planned orbit it may have enough fuel to reach its intended orbit 22,300 miles above the equator. Officials were expected to discuss the satellite's fate during a news conference scheduled for the early hours of Wednesday. The space industry is reeling from a string of launch failures, including three in April. The U.S. Air Force Titan 4 rocket left two military satellites stranded in the wrong orbits and a commercial earth-imaging satellite launched on an Athena rocket failed to reach space last week. Boeing had postponed the launch of the Delta 3 by two days because the rocket's second stage used a similar engine to that on the Titan. The company cleared the Delta for launch saying it was confident its rocket would not encounter the same problem. The Delta 3 had already been delayed four times because of technical and weather problems. Copyright © 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.