[Satellite Today 02-25-09] The launch of a Taurus XL rocket carrying NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) satellite failed Feb. 24 when the rocket’s payload fairing failed to separate properly, satellite manufacture, Orbital Sciences announced.
    NASA officials declared a mission about 13 minutes after launch and does not know if the satellite ever reached orbit. Orbital will convene an investigation board that will include representatives from the company and NASA to determine the cause of the separation malfunction, the company said in a post-launch statement.
    OCO was designed to track the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to better understand the role the greenhouse gas plays in the Earth’s climate.
    Mike Miller, who heads Orbital Sciences’ Earth science satellite division, told Satellite Today Feb. 23 that the satellite had been delayed for several years and should have been launched between 2004 and 2006. “The ball began rolling on OCO as early as 2001,” said Miller. “There were some complications early on in the process with developing the antenna, and support for the project wavered throughout.”