CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Mating of the Symphonie spacecraft. Photo credit: NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Erection of the first stage of the Delta launch vehicle for Symphonie-B at Complex 17-A on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Photo credit: NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The solar panels of Symphonie-A, a Franco-German communications satellite to be launched by KSC aboard a Delta rocket in December, undergo checkout in Hangar S at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Symphonie-A is to be placed in a synchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the equator in the Atlantic Ocean due south of Monrovia, Liberia. Launch by KSC's Unmanned Launch Operations Directorate is scheduled for no earlier than Dec. 17. Photo credit: NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians check out the Symphonie-B spacecraft during launch preparations at KSC. Symphonie is a synchronous-orbit communications satellite, jointly owned and managed by West Germany and France. Photo credit: NASA

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. -- Launch of Symphonie-A on Complex 17-B at 9:39 p.m. EST. Symphonie-A is a communications satellite for a Franco-German industrial consortium. 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. -- Prelaunch of Symphonie-A on Complex 17-B, a communications satellite for Franco-German industrial consortium. 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 Symphonie-A on Complex 17-B at 9:39 p.m. EST. Symphonie-A is a communications satellite for a Franco-German industrial consortium. Photo credit: NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians check out the Symphonie-B spacecraft during launch preparations at KSC. Symphonie is a synchronous-orbit communications satellite, jointly owned and managed by West Germany and France. Photo credit: NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Symphonie-A, a Franco-German communications satellite scheduled for launch by KSC's Unmanned Launch Operations Directorate no earlier than Dec. 17, was uncrated at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station today. The spacecraft is undergoing checkout at Hangar S at CCAFS. Launch is scheduled atop a Delta rocket from Complex 17-B. Photo credit: NASA