New Rocket Fails in Test to Put Satellite in Space

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A new heavy-duty Boeing rocket designed to haul super-size military satellites into space failed during a test flight to put a dummy satellite into its intended orbit, officials said Wednesday.

Boeing said the failure Tuesday was apparently caused by a shorter-than-planned firing of the Delta 4 Heavy rocket’s three main engines. Fired simultaneously, each of the three hydrogen-powered main engines generates 17 million horsepower.

A dummy satellite carried in the rocket’s nose cone was to have been delivered to a circular geosynchronous orbit — a spot 22,300 miles from Earth where the satellite would remain over the same spot on Earth at all times. Even after an extended firing of the rocket’s second stage, the satellite fell short of that goal.

The Air Force paid Boeing $140 million to conduct the test rather than risk the loss of an expensive military satellite on the inaugural launch.