KSC-2009-5236

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – From Hangar AE at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Garrett Lee Skrobot, who is NASA's mission manager for the Space Tracking and Surveillance System – Demonstrator, oversees the launch. The STSS-Demo spacecraft launched at 8:20:22 a.m. EDT aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. It was launched by NASA for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. The STSS-Demo is a space-based sensor component of a layered Ballistic Missile Defense System designed for the overall mission of detecting, tracking and discriminating ballistic missiles. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett