{"id":13455,"date":"2018-12-09T01:37:17","date_gmt":"2018-12-08T17:37:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/photos-delta-4-heavy-poised-for-launch-with-u-s-spy-satellite\/"},"modified":"2018-12-09T01:37:17","modified_gmt":"2018-12-08T17:37:17","slug":"photos-delta-4-heavy-poised-for-launch-with-u-s-spy-satellite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/photos-delta-4-heavy-poised-for-launch-with-u-s-spy-satellite\/","title":{"rendered":"Photos: Delta 4-Heavy poised for launch with U.S. spy satellite"},"content":{"rendered":"

A United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket stands 233 feet (71 meters) tall at Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, ready for liftoff Saturday night carrying a top secret U.S. government spy satellite into orbit.<\/p>\n

The triple-core rocket measures 53 feet (16 meters) wide with its three first stage boosters bolted together. Fully fueled for launch with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, the Delta 4-Heavy will weigh 1.6 million pounds. Its three first stage Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68A main engines will produce 2.1 million pounds at full thrust.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s launch is set for 8:15 p.m. PST (11:15 p.m. PST; 0415 GMT Sunday night) from the SLC-6 launch pad, a facility originally developed in the 1960s for the U.S. Air Force\u2019s canceled Manned Orbiting Laboratory program, then modified as a West Coast launch site for the space shuttle, before those plans were scrapped.<\/p>\n

Work to prepare the SLC-6 launch pad \u2014 with its fixed umbilical tower, mobile service tower and mobile assembly shelter structures \u2014 for the Delta 4 rocket began in 2000, and the first Delta 4 rocket launched from Vandenberg in 2006.<\/p>\n

Saturday night\u2019s mission is codenamed NROL-71 by the National Reconnaissance Office, which owns the U.S. government\u2019s classified intelligence-gather satellites. The NRO has not released any information about the spacecraft aboard the Delta 4-Heavy, which can loft up to 51,950 pounds (23,560 kilograms) of payload mass to a 120-mile-high (200-kilometer) low Earth orbit inclined 90 degrees to the equator.<\/p>\n

The Delta 4-Heavy is ULA\u2019s biggest rocket, and the beefiest version of the Delta 4 rocket has launched 10 times to date. The NROL-71 mission will be the 11th flight of a Delta 4-Heavy, and the 38th mission overall for the Delta 4 family since November 2002.<\/p>\n

These photos show the mobile service tower at SLC-6 retracting into launch position during Friday\u2019s countdown, which was scrubbed due to a technical issue, and again Saturday before a second launch attempt.<\/p>\n

See our Mission Status Center for updates on the countdown and launch.<\/p>\n

\"\"
An overview of Space Launch Complex-6 showing the mobile assembly shelter (left) and the mobile service tower (right) covering the Delta 4-Heavy rocket. Credit: Alex Polimeni\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The mobile service tower retracts into position for launch during a countdown Dec. 7. Credit: Alex Polimeni\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The mobile service tower retracts into position for launch during a countdown Dec. 7. Credit: United Launch Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The mobile service tower retracts into position for launch during a countdown Dec. 7. Credit: United Launch Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The mobile service tower retracts into position for launch during a countdown Dec. 7. Credit: United Launch Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The mobile service tower retracts into position for launch during a countdown Dec. 7. Credit: United Launch Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The mobile service tower retracts into position for launch during a countdown Dec. 7. Credit: United Launch Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The mobile service tower retracts into position for launch during a countdown Dec. 7. Credit: Alex Polimeni\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The mobile service tower retracts into position for launch during a countdown Dec. 7. Credit: United Launch Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The mobile service tower retracts into position for launch during a countdown Dec. 8. Credit: United Launch Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The mobile service tower retracts into position for launch during a countdown Dec. 8. Credit: United Launch Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The mobile service tower retracts into position for launch during a countdown Dec. 8. Credit: United Launch Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The mobile service tower retracts into position for launch during a countdown Dec. 8. Credit: United Launch Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The mobile service tower retracts into position for launch during a countdown Dec. 8. Credit: United Launch Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The mobile service tower retracts into position for launch during a countdown Dec. 8. Credit: United Launch Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The mobile service tower retracts into position for launch during a countdown Dec. 8. Credit: United Launch Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

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

A United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket stands 233 feet (71 meters) tall at Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, ready for liftoff Saturday night carrying a top secret U.S. government spy satellite into orbit. The triple-core rocket measures 53 feet (16 meters) wide with its three first stage boosters bolted together. […]<\/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":[864,1878,2790,1688,1408,25,257,848],"class_list":["post-13455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-aerojet-rocketdyne","tag-delta","tag-delta-382","tag-delta-4","tag-delta-4-heavy","tag-launch","tag-military-space","tag-national-reconnaissance-office"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13455"}],"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=13455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13455\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}