Orbital Sciences Corporation carried out the successful launch the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, satellite for NASA on 27 June 2013. The IRIS spacecraft was deployed into its targeted orbit approximately 400 miles above the Earth. The Orbital L-1011 carrier aircraft crew took off from Vandenberg AFB, California, and following a one-hour preplanned positioning flight, released the underslung Pegasus rocket at approximately 40,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean. After a thirteen-minute powered flight, the 440-pound IRIS satellite separated from the Pegasus booster and moved into its polar, sun-synchronous Earth orbit. The Orbital L-1011, known as Stargazer, has now been used to successfully launch thirty-six Pegasus rockets.
