![]() ULA’s live launch broadcast ended, and the rest of the Delta 4’s climb to geosynchronous orbit occurred in secret. The rocket’s metallic payload fairing, which covered the NRO spacecraft during the climb through the atmosphere jettisoned more than six-and-a-half minutes after liftoff to reveal the NRO’s newest spy satellite to space for the first time.Īt that time, the mission entered a government-imposed news blackout. The core stage shut down its engine about five-and-a-half minutes into the mission, followed moments later by separation of the center booster and ignition of the Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10 engine on the Delta 4’s upper stage. The engine on the core stage throttled down for the first few minutes of the flight to conserve propellant, then powered up to continue accelerating into space after jettison of the two side boosters. The hydrogen-fueled engines on the two side boosters of the Delta 4 burned nearly four minutes, then the side boosters dropped away from the Delta 4’s core booster. Technicians wheeled the Delta 4’s 330-foot-tall service gantry away shortly after sunset, clearing the way for loading of super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the rocket.Īfter ticking down the final minutes until liftoff, the Delta 4-Heavy rocket fired its three RS-68A engines supplied by Aerojet Rocketdyne and flew east from Cape Canaveral powered by 2.1 million pounds of thrust. ULA’s launch team at the Delta Operations Center at Cape Canaveral supervised the eight-and-a-half hour countdown beginning Wednesday night. The Advanced Orion satellites require the combination of the Delta 4-Heavy rocket’s lift capability, long-duration upper stage, and huge 65-foot-long (19.8-meter) trisector payload fairing. In that orbit, the satellites fly in lock-step with Earth’s rotation, giving them fixed coverage areas over the same parts of the world 24 hours per day. The Advanced Orion satellites fly in geosynchronous orbit, circling more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) and closely hugging the equator. The circumstances of Thursday’s launch, including its due east trajectory and the use of the Delta 4-Heavy, suggest it carried a type of satellite known publicly as an “Advanced Orion” or “Mentor” spy spacecraft. The NRO does not officially disclose details about its satellites, but expert observers of military space missions believe the Delta 4 rocket sent a large spacecraft into orbit designed to intercept telephone calls, data transmissions, and other types of communication by U.S. The 235-foot-tall (71.6-meter) Delta 4-Heavy rocket hauled into orbit a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. The mission’s first launch attempt Wednesday morning was scrubbed due to an issue with a valve in a ground pneumatics system. ULA’s launch team pushed back the launch time by more than 90 minutes Thursday after preparations fell behind schedule due to stormy weather. ![]() EDT (0918 UTC) Thursday from Pad 37B at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. ![]() Liftoff of ULA’s 15th Delta 4-Heavy rocket, and 44th Delta 4 rocket overall, occurred at 5:18 a.m. government, snapping the longest lull in launches in ULA’s history. The second-to-last flight of United Launch Alliance’s Delta rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral early Thursday and delivered a top secret spy satellite into orbit for the U.S. Credit: Michael Cain / Spaceflight Now / Coldlife Photography Liftoff of ULA’s Delta 4-Heavy rocket on the NROL-68 mission.
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