The three ST5 micro-sats were hauled into a highly elliptical orbit aboard an air-launched Pegasus rocket made by Orbital Sciences. The winged rocket was ferried off the coast of California and dropped from the belly of a modified L-1011 jet at 1403 GMT (9:03 a.m. EST; 6:03 a.m. PST) this morning.

With the push of a button in the aircraft's cockpit, the rocket was cast free to fall 300 feet in five seconds before the first stage motor ignited to begin the trek to space.

It took just over six minutes for the 37th Pegasus booster to fire all three of its solid-fueled stages to achieve an approximate orbit of 187 by 2,838 miles, inclined 105.6 degrees to the equator.

Release of the 55-pound micro-sats from the launcher occurred one by one from a special rack that supported them during the ride to space. The forward-most craft jettisoned about nine-and-a-half minutes into flight, followed by the middle and then the aft-most during three-minute intervals.

NASA's Deep Space Network tracking stations in Madrid, Spain and Canberra, Australia were scheduled to establish contact with the micro-sats later in the day to determine their health and status.