DELTA ROCKET THUNDERS TOWARD SPACE

A Delta rocket thundered toward space Friday to put a $100 million communications satellite into orbit like one used by mobile phone-toting journalists to beam stories out of Baghdad and elsewhere during the Persian Gulf war.

Following the launch of a more-powerful Titan 4 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., the $50 million 126-foot Delta 2 took off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida with a ground-shaking roar at 6:03 p.m. EST, four minutes late because of a ship in the launch danger zone.Earlier Friday, an Air Force Titan 4 rocket carried a spy satellite into space in the first flight of the shuttle-class booster from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.