NASA launches microsatellites

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, California (AP) -- NASA fired three microsatellites into space over the Pacific Ocean Wednesday morning to study the earth's magnetic fields, a week after a planned launch was scrubbed due to a technical malfunction.

The 55-pound (24.75-kilogram) ST5 satellites, which will test new technologies for future science missions, were carried aloft from Vandenberg Air Force Base aboard a Lockheed L-1011 jet.

Shortly after 6 a.m. PST (1400 GMT), when the plane reached 39,000 feet (11,700 meters), a compact Pegasus rocket dropped from the aircraft's belly, fired its engine and ferried the satellites on a 10-minute climb into space.

full story at:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/03/22/micro.satellite.ap/index.html