CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Symphonie-B, second in a series of French-West German experimental communications satellites, was launched aboard a Delta rocket from Pad A at Complex 17 at 9:42 p.m. EDT today. The satellite will be placed in a synchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the equator at 11.5 degrees west latitude. Launch was by KSC’s Unmanned Launch Operations Directorate. The launch was the first from Pad A since that of Orbiting Solar Observatory 7 in September 1971. The pad has undergone extensive modifications to prepare it to handle the larger solid strap-on rocket motors to be used in future Delta space missions. Photo credit: NASA Photo credit: NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians in protective suits loaded the Symphonie-B spacecraft with propellants in the Spin Test Facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station today. The French-West German experimental communications satellite is to be launched by KSC's Unmanned Launch Operations Directorate aboard a Delta rocket from Complex 17 in late August or early September. The satellite will be placed in a synchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the equator south of the West African 'Bulge,' joining Symphonie-1 in handling communications between ground stations in Europe, South America, portions of North America and the Mideast. Photo credit: NASA Photo credit: NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Launch of Delta 114, Symphonie-2, second in a series of French-West German experimental communications satellites, from Complex 17-A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 9:42 p.m. EDT. Photo credit: NASA Photo credit: NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Prelaunch of Delta 114, Symphonie-B, from Complex 17-A at Cape Canaveral Fir Force Station. Photo credit: NASA Photo credit: NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians in protective suits loaded the Symphonie-B spacecraft with propellants in the Spin Test Facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station today. The French-West German experimental communications satellite is to be launched by KSC's Unmanned Launch Operations Directorate aboard a Delta rocket from Complex 17 in late August or early September. The satellite will be placed in a synchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the equator south of the West African 'Bulge,' joining Symphonie-1 in handling communications between ground stations in Europe, South America, portions of North America and the Mideast. Photo credit: NASA Photo credit: NASA

Expedition 10 backup crew members cosmonaut Valery I. Tokarev, left and NASA astronaut William S. McArthur depart the plane at Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Monday, Oct. 4, 2004. The Expedition 10 crew is scheduled to be launched on the Soyuz TMA-5 to the International Space Station on October 14, 2004. Photo credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 10 Commander and NASA Science Officer Leroy Chiao, right, Flight Engineer and Soyuz Commander Salizhan Sharipov and Russian Space Forces cosmonaut Yuri Shargin, left, pose for photos Monday, Oct. 4, 2004, at Star City, Russia as they prepare for their October 14th launch on the Soyuz TMA-5 spacecraft to the International Space Station. Photo Credit (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Preston Burch, Hubble Program Manager, speaks during a press conference on the upcoming Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, Thursday, April 23, 2009, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul. E. Alers)

Ed Weiler, Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, seated second from left, speaks during a press conference on the upcoming Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission as David Leckrone, Hubble Project Scientist, Preston Burch and Mike Klenlen, seated right, look on, Thursday, April 23, 2009, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. J.D. Harrington, Public Affairs officer for the Science Mission Directorate looks on at left. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul. E. Alers)

U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., rear right, speaks to the crew of STS-125, during a televised phone call to the space shuttle, Thursday, May 21, 2009, in a Dirksen Senate office building hearing room on Capitol Hill in Washington. The crew of STS-125 is returning to earth after finishing repairs on the Hubble Space Telescope. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., rear right, speaks to the crew of STS-125, during a televised phone call to the space shuttle, Thursday, May 21, 2009, in a Dirksen Senate office building hearing room on Capitol Hill in Washington. The crew of STS-125 is returning to earth after finishing repairs on the Hubble Space Telescope. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., rear right, speaks to the crew of STS-125, during a televised phone call to the space shuttle, Thursday, May 21, 2009, in a Dirksen Senate office building hearing room on Capitol Hill in Washington as Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., rear left, looks on. The crew of STS-125 is returning to earth after finishing repairs on the Hubble Space Telescope. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

JSC2009-E-121340 (21 May 2009) --- The astronaut crewmembers of the STS-125 flight orbiting Earth aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis are seen on a TV screen as they receive a phone call from U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) the day after the crew released the freshly serviced Hubble Space Telescope. Photo credit: NASA/Paul Alers

Ed Weiler, Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, makes a point during a press conference on the upcoming Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, Thursday, April 23, 2009, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul. E. Alers)

David Leckrone, Hubble Project Scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center, speaks during a press conference on the upcoming Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, Thursday, April 23, 2009, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul. E. Alers)

U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., rear right, waves to the crew of STS-125, at the end of a televised phone call to the space shuttle, Thursday, May 21, 2009, in a Dirksen Senate office building hearing room on Capitol Hill in Washington. The crew of STS-125 is returning to earth after finishing repairs on the Hubble Space Telescope. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., rear right, speaks to the crew of STS-125, during a televised phone call to the space shuttle, Thursday, May 21, 2009, in a Dirksen Senate office building hearing room on Capitol Hill in Washington. The crew of STS-125 is returning to earth after finishing repairs on the Hubble Space Telescope. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

JSC2009-E-121339 (21 May 2009) --- The astronaut crewmembers of the STS-125 flight orbiting Earth aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis are seen on a TV screen as they receive a phone call from U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) the day after the crew released the freshly serviced Hubble Space Telescope. Photo credit: NASA/Paul Alers

Mike Klenlen, the Hubble Deputy Project Manager, speaks during a press conference on the upcoming Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, Thursday, April 23, 2009, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul. E. Alers)

Ed Weiler, Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, second from left, speaks during a press conference on the upcoming Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission as David Leckrone, Hubble Project Scientist, Preston Burch and Mike Klenlen, seated right, look on, Thursday, April 23, 2009, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul. E. Alers)

David Leckrone, Hubble Project Scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center speaks during a press conference on the upcoming Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, Thursday, April 23, 2009, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul. E. Alers)

U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., rear right, speaks to the crew of STS-125, during a televised phone call to the space shuttle, Thursday, May 21, 2009, in a Dirksen Senate office building hearing room on Capitol Hill in Washington. The crew of STS-125 is returning to earth after finishing repairs on the Hubble Space Telescope. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

Ed Weiler, Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, left, looks on at David Leckrone, Hubble Project Scientist, as he speaks during a press conference on the upcoming Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission while Preston Burch and Mike Klenlen, seated right, look on, Thursday, April 23, 2009, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul. E. Alers)

U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., rear right, along with Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., rear left, speak to the crew of STS-125, during a televised phone call to the space shuttle, Thursday, May 21, 2009, in a Dirksen Senate office building hearing room on Capitol Hill in Washington. The crew of STS-125 is returning to earth after finishing repairs on the Hubble Space Telescope. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., rear right, and Sen. Bill Nelson, rear left, speak to the crew of STS-125, during a televised phone call to the space shuttle, Thursday, May 21, 2009, in a Dirksen Senate office building hearing room on Capitol Hill in Washington. The crew of STS-125 is returning to earth after finishing repairs on the Hubble Space Telescope. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)