Boeing

Boeing successfully launched NASA's Space Infrared Telescope Facility, or SIRTF, aboard a Delta II Heavy launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. in the early hours of the morning.

Liftoff occurred on schedule at an instantaneous launch window of 1:35:39 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 17B. Telemetry data indicated that the launch vehicle successfully deployed SIRTF to a solar orbit.

SIRTF is the last of NASA's Great Observatories program, which includes the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Chandra X-Ray and Compton Gamma Ray Observatories. SIRTF will enable researchers from around the world to learn more about the formation of the universe.