THE GOOD SORT OF PORK:

Behemoth rocket lifts off from Cape (PATRICK PETERSON, 11/11/07, FLORIDA TODAY)

A triple-bodied behemoth rocket roared to life at 8:50 p.m. Saturday, ending a long wait to loft the 23rd and last in a line of missile-warning spacecraft.

A last-minute problem with instrumentation delayed the launch of the Delta 4 Heavy by 11 minutes. Then the slow-rising rocket took about 16 seconds to clear the launch structure before it rose toward orbit carrying a
10,000-pound Defense Support Program satellite.

The rocket cut a bright orange arc over the Atlantic Ocean, delighting spectators assembled all along the Space Coast.

"So far, the mission is on track and proceding as planned," launch commentator Doug Shores said after cutoff of the second stage engine, about 13 minutes into the flight. It was the first of three firings of the launch vehicle's engines.

United Launch Alliance engineers will know whether the mission is a success shortly after 3 a.m. today, when the spacecraft separates from the second stage of the rocket more than 22,000 miles above Earth.

Saturday's launch was only the second flight of the 235-foot heavy-lift version of the Delta 4. Three, 16-foot booster cores make it 53 feet wide. The three boosters generate nearly 2 million pounds of thrust to push the 1.6 million-pound rocket off the Earth. The two side-mounted boosters were jettisoned about four minutes into the flight, and the first stage separated nearly six minutes into the flight.