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WG3K > ANS 15.04.24 01:44z 65 Lines 3362 Bytes #46 (0) @ AMSAT
BID : $ANS105.7
Read: GUEST
Subj: Ending an Era, Final Delta Rocket Launched This Week
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Sent: 240415/0126Z 3131@WG3K.#SMD.MD.USA.NOAM LinBPQ6.0.24
Ending an era in U.S. rocketry, United Launch Alliance fired off its 16th
and final triple-core Delta 4 Heavy Tuesday, launching a classified spy
satellite in the last hurrah of a storied family of rockets dating back to
the dawn of the space age.
The HeavyâÖs three hydrogen-fueled RS-68A first stage engines ignited with a
rush of bright orange flame at 12:53 p.m. EDT, smoothly pushing the
235-foot-tall rocket away from pad 37 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force
Station in Florida.
*The last Delta 4 Heavy rocket climbs away from the Cape Canaveral Space
Force Station on April 9, 2024, carrying a classified National
Reconnaissance Office spy satellite. (United Launch Alliance photo.)*
The launch came 12 days late, primarily because of work to replace a pump
in a system that supplies nitrogen gas to multiple launch pads from a
pipeline running through the Kennedy Space Center and the Cape Canaveral
Space Force Station. There were no problems Tuesday.
Mounted atop the rocket was a classified satellite provided by the National
Reconnaissance Office, the secretive government agency that manages the
nationâÖs fleet of sophisticated optical and radar imaging reconnaissance
satellites and electronic eavesdropping stations.
In keeping with standard NRO-U.S. Space Force policy for such missions, no
details about the NROL-70 payload were released. But about six hours after
launch, the National Reconnaissance Office declared the launch a success,
indicating the satellite reached its planned orbit.The final appearance of
a Delta rocket 63 years after the first variantâÖs maiden flight was an
emotional milestone for the managers, engineers and technicians who
assembled and launched the last member of the family.
The Delta family of stages and rockets had its roots in the early space
program, first serving in the nationâÖs fleet of intermediate-range
ballistic missiles and evolving through multiple versions used to put
military, NASA and civilian payloads into orbit.
The now-retired Delta 2 debuted in 1990, putting the first Global
Positioning System satellites into orbit and sending multiple planetary
probes into deep space, including Messenger to Mercury, multiple Mars
orbiters, the Pathfinder, Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers, the Spitzer
Space Telescope and many more.
The single-core Delta 4 first flew in 2002 with the first Heavy following
two years later. The single-core version flew the programâÖs final flight in
2019. TuesdayâÖs launch was the 45th flight of a Delta 4 and the 16th and
final Delta 4 Heavy.
âLaunching the last Delta 4 is bittersweet for me,â Col. Eric Zarybnisky,
director of NROâÖs Office of Space Launch, said in a statement. âI was part
of the team that launched the first Delta 4 for the NRO. Since that time,
the Delta 4 has put amazing capability on orbit for this nation.â
Tory Bruno, president and CEO of United Launch Alliance, also called the
flight a âbittersweetâ moment as the company continues its transition to
next-generation Vulcan rockets, phasing out its more expensive Delta and
Atlas families.
âSoon, Vulcan will pick up that mantle and weâÖre going to retire this
venerable rocket that has made so much important work for our country,â he
said after launch in a pre-recorded video.
[ANS thanks William Harwood, CBS News, for the above information]
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