CAPE CANAVERAL Air Station, Fla., Jan. 20, 2000 – An Atlas rocket lit up the Florida sky tonight with the successful launch of the Defense Satellite Communications System III (DSCS III) satellite for the U.S. Air Force. Liftoff occurred at 8:03 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, followed by successful spacecraft separation from the launch vehicle just under a half hour later. The launch was conducted by a combined team of Lockheed Martin, the United States Air Force and International Launch Services (ILS).
