{"id":12249,"date":"2020-08-29T21:38:07","date_gmt":"2020-08-29T13:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/launch-of-nro-spy-satellite-delayed-at-least-a-week\/"},"modified":"2020-08-29T21:38:07","modified_gmt":"2020-08-29T13:38:07","slug":"launch-of-nro-spy-satellite-delayed-at-least-a-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/launch-of-nro-spy-satellite-delayed-at-least-a-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Launch of NRO spy satellite delayed at least a week"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Credit: United Launch Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The launch from Cape Canaveral of a top secret spy satellite for the U.S. government was aborted at the last moment early Saturday as its United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket ignited three main engines, a dramatic cutoff of the countdown that will delay the mission by at least one week.<\/p>\n

The 235-foot-tall (71.6-meter) Delta 4-Heavy rocket was three seconds from liftoff at 3:28 a.m. EDT (0728 GMT) when a computer detected a problem and automatically called the abort.<\/p>\n

The abort occurred as the Delta 4-Heavy\u2019s three Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68A main engines were igniting, but before the hydrogen-fueled engines reached full power and hold-down restraints disengaged to permit the rocket to climb away from pad 37B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree, two, one and liftoff!\u201d said Dillon Rice, the commentator on ULA\u2019s launch broadcast.<\/p>\n

Fire rose around the Delta 4-Heavy\u2019s three first stage booster cores as the main engines began to ignite. The fireball is typically seen during normal Delta 4-Heavy launches.<\/p>\n

But the heavy-lifter remained on the ground, and the orange glow dissipated as a member of ULA\u2019s launch team confirmed the engines had shut down.<\/p>\n

\u201cStand by,\u201d Rice said. \u201cWe\u2019ve obviously had a hotfire abort.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Delta 4 launch team soon confirmed the launch attempt was scrubbed and began procedures to drain the rocket\u2019s propellant tanks of super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants.<\/p>\n

In a statement, ULA said the countdown as halted \u201cdue to an unexpected condition during terminal count at approximately three seconds before liftoff.\u201d<\/p>\n

The launch operator \u2014 a 50-50 joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin \u2014 said the mission would be delayed at least one week as teams review data and \u201cdetermine the path forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tory Bruno, ULA\u2019s president and CEO, tweeted that the Delta 4-Heavy was in \u201cgood shape\u201d after the fiery abort.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was an automatic abort during the ignition sequence,\u201d Bruno tweeted. \u201cCause appears to have been in the ground system. System functioned as intended to protect the vehicle and payload.\u201d<\/p>\n

A ULA spokesperson said later Saturday one of the Delta 4-Heavy\u2019s three RS-68A engines \u2014 mounted under the rocket\u2019s starboard booster \u2014 had already ignited when the abort was triggered three seconds before liftoff. The starboard engine ignites first in the Delta 4-Heavy\u2019s staggered engine startup sequence.<\/p>\n

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Credit: Lloyd Behrendt \/ Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Delta 4-Heavy rocket is the most powerful vehicle in ULA\u2019s fleet, and the largest rocket in the world currently flying. There have been 40 launches of Delta 4 rockets to date, and 11 flights using the triple-body Delta 4-Heavy variant.<\/p>\n

The abort Saturday marked the first time a Delta 4 launch was aborted during its engine startup sequence.<\/p>\n

The cargo mounted on top of the Delta 4-Heavy is a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, which owns the U.S. government\u2019s spy satellites.<\/p>\n

The NRO has not disclosed the satellite\u2019s purpose or design, but analysts believe the Delta 4-Heavy is launching a large intelligence-gathering satellite to an orbit more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) above Earth. In that orbit, the spacecraft is expected to unfurl a huge antenna the size of a football field to intercept telephone calls, data transmissions and other communications traffic from U.S. adversaries.<\/p>\n

ULA planned to launch the Delta 4-Heavy rocket early Thursday, but managers called off that attempt to allow more time to evaluate an issue with a ground pneumatics system at the launch pad.<\/p>\n