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Satellite Launch From Central Coast Scrubbed Due To Minor Fuel Leak

Minor propellent leak scrubs planned satellite launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base Friday

A minor leak involving rocket propellant prompted a delay in Friday’s planned launch of a satellite from the Central Coast.

The United Launch Alliance was preparing to send up an Atlas V rocket carrying the WorldView-4 satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base Friday morning. The problem prompted what’s being called a 24 hour delay, with the next liftoff opportunity a 14 minute window beginning at 11:30 Saturday morning.

WorldView-4 is an earth observation satellite equipped with state of the art lenses and electronics, with the craft’s costs including the launch estimated to be more than $800 million dollars.

If the liftoff takes place as planned, it should be visible along much of the Central and South Coasts.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.