An Orbital Sciences Corporation Pegasus XL rocket was launched today at 6:03 a.m. The rocket took off from an L-1011 aircraft and carried NASA’s Space Technology 5 spacecraft into orbit.

Spacelift commander for the mission was Col. Frank Wolf, 30th Space Wing vice commander. The spacelift commander is the final "go-for-launch" authority for each mission. NASA’s launch director for the mission was Chuck Dovale.

"I'm extremely proud of what this team has accomplished," Colonel Wolf said. "This is not just a 30th Space Wing success, it takes the whole team, including NASA and Orbital Sciences, to make an event of this magnitude happen.”

While in orbit, the ST5 will demonstrate the ability of small satellites to perform research-quality science by taking measurements of the Earth’s magnetic field using highly sensitive magnetometers.