BOULDER, Colo.—A climate-monitoring satellite carrying equipment built in Colorado has failed to make orbit.
A rocket carrying NASA’s Glory satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California around 3 a.m. Mountain time on Friday. NASA says a protective shell didn’t separate, leaving the spacecraft without enough velocity to reach orbit. It plummeted into the Pacific Ocean.
The satellite was carrying cameras built by Colorado-based Ball Aerospace & Technologies to photograph clouds. It also contained an instrument built by a University of Colorado lab to measure fluctuations in the sun’s output.
All the instruments on Glory were designed to study the causes and consequences of climate change. The mission was scheduled to last three years.
NASA has already started a board to investigate.
