{"id":12485,"date":"2020-05-09T01:01:05","date_gmt":"2020-05-08T17:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spy-satellite-launch-on-delta-4-heavy-rocket-delayed-to-august\/"},"modified":"2020-05-09T01:01:05","modified_gmt":"2020-05-08T17:01:05","slug":"spy-satellite-launch-on-delta-4-heavy-rocket-delayed-to-august","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spy-satellite-launch-on-delta-4-heavy-rocket-delayed-to-august\/","title":{"rendered":"Spy satellite launch on Delta 4-Heavy rocket delayed to August"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
File photo of a Delta 4-Heavy launch in June 2012. Credit: United Launch Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The next flight of United Launch Alliance\u2019s triple-barrel Delta 4-Heavy rocket has been delayed from June to late August, military officials said Friday.<\/p>\n

The heavy-lift rocket will carry a classified National Reconnaissance Office payload into orbit, likely targeting a geosynchronous station more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator, where the NRO operates surveillance satellites capable of eavesdropping on foreign communication signals.<\/p>\n

The mission was previously scheduled to launch some time in June, but has been rescheduled for Aug. 26, according to Col. Robert Bongiovi, head of the launch enterprise division at the U.S. Space Force\u2019s Space and Missile Systems Center.<\/p>\n

Military officials did not disclose a reason for the two-month delay.<\/p>\n

The Delta 4-Heavy rocket was transferred to Cape Canaveral\u2019s Complex 37B launch pad last November, where ULA crews erected the launcher\u2019s three first stage boosters and second stage on top of the launch deck.<\/p>\n

In January, the Delta launch team loaded the rocket with around 465,000 gallons (nearly 1.8 million liters) of cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants during a countdown dress rehearsal. The launch team drained the rocket of propellants after the simulated countdown.<\/p>\n

\"\"
A hydraulic erector raised United Launch Alliance\u2019s next Delta 4-Heavy rocket vertical at Cape Canaveral\u2019s Complex 37 launch pad on Nov. 15, 2019, to begin final preparations for the NROL-44 mission. Credit: United Launch Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Details about the Delta 4-Heavy\u2019s payload is being kept secret by the NRO, the agency which develops and owns the U.S. government\u2019s intelligence-gathering spy satellites. The mission is officially codenamed NROL-44.<\/p>\n

If the NROL-44 payload is similar to previous NRO spy satellites launched into similar geosynchronous orbits, the Delta 4-Heavy rocket will deliver its spacecraft passenger directly to a circular orbit some 22,300 miles in altitude, a lofty orbit that typically requires three firings by the Delta 4\u2019s upper stage RL10 engine.<\/p>\n

The launch scheduled for Aug. 26 will mark the 12th flight a Delta 4-Heavy rocket since 2004.<\/p>\n

ULA has five more Delta 4-Heavy missions its manifest through 2023, all carrying payloads for the NRO that military officials say are unable to launch into their targeted orbits on any other rocket that is currently operational. Many of the NRO\u2019s satellites are heavy and large \u2014 comparable to the size of a school bus \u2014 and are designed to be integrated with their rockets in a vertical configuration, rather than horizontally.<\/p>\n

The final launch of a Delta 4 rocket in its \u201cmedium\u201d configuration with a single first stage booster occurred in August 2019.<\/p>\n

ULA is also gearing up a Delta 4-Heavy launch later this year from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The rocket stages for that mission, designated NROL-82, recently arrived at Vandenberg from ULA\u2019s factory in Alabama aboard a transport ship.<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

File photo of a Delta 4-Heavy launch in June 2012. Credit: United Launch Alliance The next flight of United Launch Alliance\u2019s triple-barrel Delta 4-Heavy rocket has been delayed from June to late August, military officials said Friday. The heavy-lift rocket will carry a classified National Reconnaissance Office payload into orbit, likely targeting a geosynchronous station […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1962,1963,1408,25,257,848,2036,2087],"class_list":["post-12485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-complex-37","tag-delta-385","tag-delta-4-heavy","tag-launch","tag-military-space","tag-national-reconnaissance-office","tag-nrol-44","tag-space-and-missile-systems-center"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12485"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12485\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}