Vandenberg officals successfully launch Delta II rocket Published Dec. 10, 2007 VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) -- Officals at Vandenberg Air Force Base successfully launched a Delta II rocket Dec. 8 at 6:31 p.m. The rocket took off from Space Launch Complex-2 carrying the Thales Alenia-Space COSMO-SkyMed 2 Satellite. Col. Steve Tanous, 30th Space Wing commander, was the spacelift commander for this mission, or final go-for-launch authority. "This was the second successful COSMO-SkyMed launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base this year," Colonel Tanous said. "It takes a great deal of communications and teamwork to make a launch happen and the use of the Western Range by our Italian partners is rewarding for Team Vandenberg." The Delta II is an expendable launch, medium-lift vehicle. It carries civil and commercial payloads into low-earth, polar, geosynchronous transfer and stationary orbits. The COSMO-SkyMed 2 satellite is an end-to-end Earth observation dual-use (civilian and military) system composed of four satellites and ground stations. Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link) View the comments/letters page