KSC-2009-5238

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At a post-launch news conference for the media about launch of the Space Tracking and Satellite System – Demonstrator spacecraft, NASA Launch Manager Omar Baez, at center, responds to a question. At right is Rear Adm. Joseph Horn, deputy director, with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. At left, Public Affairs Officer Tracy Young moderates. The STSS-Demo is a space-based sensor component of a layered Ballistic Missile Defense System designed for the overall mission of detecting, tracking and discriminating ballistic missiles. The spacecraft was launched by NASA for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann