Delta II launches GPS IIR-16M

11/17/06 ~ 2:12 p.m.

A Boeing Delta II rocket launches the 16th replacement Global Positioning System satellite, GPS IIR-16M into orbit
11,000 miles above the Earth. These rare photos are taken from the Air Force Space and Missile
Museum at Cape Canaveral, less than 2000 feet from Launch Complex 17 where Deltas have launched from for 46 years (the oldest
active launch pad at Cape Canaveral). Standing prominently in the foreground is an original Thor-Able rocket from the early
1960s. This Thor, far smaller than the Delta II launching behind it, is standing at the site of Launch Complex 26B, which on
January 31, 1958 was the starting point for Explorer 1, America's first satellite. It was the Thor IRBM which was converted
into a space launch vehicle and later renamed Delta (Delta was originally the second stage name). Since 1960 when the second
Delta to launch sent up America's first communications satellite, Echo 1 (the first flight of a Delta rocket was a failure),
exactly 321 Deltas have flown through the date of this launch.