[Satellite TODAY 06-08-11] A United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket is set to launch the Argentine SAC-D satellite and a hitchhiking NASA instrument June 9 from the Vandenberg U.S. Air Force Base, NASA confirmed June 7.

   The Argentine SAC-D observatory carries a primary NASA instrument, dubbed Aquarius, which aims to measure ocean surface salinity to study interactions between ocean circulation, the water cycle and climate. Other SAC-D instruments on the Argentine satellite also will collect environmental data for a wide range of uses.

   NASA invested $287 million in the instrument’s design, development, launch and operations, according to agency officials.