U.S. military satellite, paid for by Australia, ready for launch

An unmanned Delta 4 rocket was poised for launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Wednesday to put a communications satellite into orbit for the U.S. military and its partners, including Australia, which paid for the spacecraft and launch services. Liftoff of the sixth Wideband Global Satcom, or WGS, spacecraft was scheduled for 8:29 p.m. EDT (0029 GMT). The orbital network is used to relay television broadcasts, video conferences, images and other high-bandwidth data to and from ships, aircraft, ground forces, operations centers, the U.S. Department of State, the White House and select partners worldwide. More

(Source: Reuters - Aug 8)