Lockheed Martin has launched a rocket carrying a 2.5 ton high-definition television satellite that will bring the new format to some familiar cable offerings in the United States.
Lockheed reported a clean lift-off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 6:22 p.m. EDT (6:22 p.m. EDT), followed 28 minutes later by the separation of the AMC-11 satellite, built by Lockheed for SES AMERICOM, from the rocket’s second stage.
This was one of the last rockets launched in what has become an old-fashioned way, with the launch team hunkered down in a concrete bunker with 12-foot (3.6-meter) thick walls just 800 feet from the launch pad. The launch controller actually pushed a button.
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