Also aboard the Pegasus rocket was NASA's Wing Glove Experiment, which gathered aerodynamic data related to hypersonic flight characteristics. This mission was the fifth for the Pegasus rocket in 1998 and the 24th overall mission in the innovative air-launched rocket program's history. In addition, this mission marked Orbital's 32nd consecutive successful rocket launch, including missions carried out by the company's Pegasus and Taurus space launch vehicles and by its extensive line of suborbital rockets.

Thursday's launch originated from Cape Canaveral Air Station, located on the East Coast of Florida, when the company's "Stargazer" Pegasus carrier aircraft took off at approximately 7:00 p.m. this evening. The aircraft flew approximately 100 nautical miles offshore at an altitude of 39,000 feet to a predetermined launch point over the Atlantic Ocean.

After being released from its carrier aircraft at approximately 8:03 p.m., the Pegasus rocket ignited its first stage motor after a planned five-second free fall. Following an approximate 10 minute flight, Pegasus accurately delivered the SCD-2 satellite into a circular orbit approximately 750 kilometers above the Earth, inclined at 25 degrees to the equator. Preliminary information gathered from the satellite indicates that the main operating systems of the satellite are operating as expected.

"I am extremely proud of the entire launch team that carried out another picture-perfect mission with the Pegasus rocket," said Mr. James R. Thompson, Orbital's Executive Vice President and General Manager of its Launch Systems Group. "We are very pleased that, for the second time, we were able to successfully deploy a spacecraft for the Brazilian national space agency. We are honored to be able to help scientists and researchers continue their important work in gathering environmental data about the Amazon River basin area of South America."