Mar 14 1990
From The Space Library
A satellite launched by Martin Marietta from Cape Canaveral, Florida, failed to reach a useful orbit because of a wiring problem that did not allow separation from the Titan 3 rocket's second stage. Ground engineers successfully took the craft to a higher, but still useless, orbit, so that it would not be as likely to reenter the atmosphere. One plan offered by Orbital Sciences Corporation in Virginia was to attach a rocket to the satellite via the Space Shuttle so it could obtain the necessary 23,000 mile orbit. Martin Marietta, which had only two remaining contracts, believed it was in jeopardy of not getting any more contracts because of the incident. (WSJ, Mar 15/90; W Post, Mar 17/90; NY Times, Mar 16/90)
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