Orbital Sciences Corp. [ORB] said it successfully launched a Minotaur rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., July 19 carrying a multiple-experiment satellite for the Defense Department.

At 4:09 p.m. EDT, the rocket soared toward space carrying the 263-pound. MightySat 2, which was deployed into a 550-kilometer, circular, sun-synchronous orbit inclined at 97.6 degrees to the equator. Initial communications with the satellite indicate that all systems are operating as planned.

The space platform carries an imaging instrument along with nine other advanced space technology experiments, most of them sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory or the DoD Space Test Program, such as a solar array concentrator, which would enable solar cells to product more power.

This latest launch for the U.S. Air Force falls is one of many conducted by Orbital this summer. “In just the last two months alone, we have successfully conducted three rocket launches and one satellite deployment for the Air Force,” said Ronald Grabe, Orbital’s executive vice president and the general manager of its launch systems group.

“We also conducted the successful demonstration launch of the new OSP target launch vehicle for the National Missile Defense initiative at the end of May,” he said.

The MightySat 2 was built by Spectrum Astro Corp. of Gilbert, Ariz., which said it hopes to build a series of MightySats to carry additional experiments for the Air Force Research Laboratory at a relatively low cost.