Delta IV heavy rocket carries Air Force satellite into space

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A Delta IV Heavy rocket blasted off Saturday night, carrying a national security satellite into space.

The 23-story rocket, made in Decatur, blasted slowly at 7:50 p.m. CST, taking nearly 15 seconds to clear the launch pad.

The 1.6-million-pound rocket, which can carry the military’s largest payloads, uses three common booster cores that are strapped together with a trio of hydrogen-fueled motors and then added to an upper-stage rocket.

It carried the 23rd and final satellite of the Air Force’s Defense Support Program.

The satellite was expected to set into orbit 61/2 hours after liftoff, more than 22,000 miles above the Earth.

The reconnaissance satellites use infrared sensors that detect heat from missile and booster plumes against the background of the Earth.

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