Glory Satellite Never Reaches Orbit after Launch

Glory Satellite atop an Taurus XL rocket - credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

After several postponements NASA’s Glory mission was finally launched on Friday, but unfortunately, the satellite never made it to orbit. NASA is investigating the launch failure to determine the cause.

The Glory satellite was intended to help scientists get a better understanding of how the Earth’s climate is affected by the sun and small particles called aerosols. After a successful lift-off at 5:09 AM EST, it appears that a fairing failure during ignition of the second stage engine led the space craft to fall back to earth. NASA believes the spacecraft likely came down somewhere in the South Pacific Ocean.

The fairing is a protective shell on the Taurus XL rocket. As happened on a February 24, 2009 launch, telemetry data from the rocket indicated the fairing did not separate as it should have during the second stage. The result was a loss of proper attitude control and a failure to reach orbit.

After the 2009 failure, the system was redesigned to correct the issue. Investigation of this launch will determine whether the same issues as before caused the failure on Friday.