{"id":14075,"date":"2018-01-14T00:24:04","date_gmt":"2018-01-13T16:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/delta-4-rocket-successfully-lofts-clandestine-nro-satellite-into-orbit\/"},"modified":"2018-01-14T00:24:04","modified_gmt":"2018-01-13T16:24:04","slug":"delta-4-rocket-successfully-lofts-clandestine-nro-satellite-into-orbit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/delta-4-rocket-successfully-lofts-clandestine-nro-satellite-into-orbit\/","title":{"rendered":"Delta 4 rocket successfully lofts clandestine NRO satellite into orbit"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base on Friday. Credit: ULA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket climbed into orbit Friday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with a top secret spy satellite, adding a new set of eyes in the sky for the U.S. government\u2019s intelligence community and nudging part of the Delta 4 family closer to retirement.<\/p>\n

The 217-foot-tall (66-meter) Delta 4 rocket lifted off at 2:11 p.m. PST (5:11 p.m. EST; 2211 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 6 at Vandenberg on the power of an Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68A main engine and two Orbital ATK-built solid rocket boosters.<\/p>\n

The RS-68A engine ignited with a burst of orange flame, spinning up its pumps to consume super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for a four-minute firing.<\/p>\n

Two side-mounted solid rocket boosters fired as the countdown clock ticked down to zero, combining with the RS-68A main engine to send the Delta 4 away from the historic SLC-6 launch pad atop 1.2 million pounds of thrust.<\/p>\n

The Delta 4 arced to the southwest over the Pacific Ocean, surpassing the speed of sound in less than a minute and dropping its two spent solid rocket boosters after burnout around 90 seconds into the flight.<\/p>\n

The rocket\u2019s nose shroud, which cocooned the top secret National Reconnaissance Office payload in the early phase of launch, jettisoned from the Delta 4 moments after it passed the mission\u2019s three-minute point.<\/p>\n

ULA\u2019s live webcast of the launch ended after the fairing\u2019s jettison, and the rest of the flight occurred in a news blackout.<\/p>\n

The Delta 4\u2019s first stage was expected to end its burn around four minutes after liftoff, then the rocket\u2019s second stage RL10 engine was programmed to complete the job of placing the clandestine payload in orbit.<\/p>\n

ULA confirmed the flight\u2019s successful outcome in a press release around two hours after liftoff.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the nation\u2019s most trustworthy launch provider, today\u2019s launch exemplifies ULA\u2019s ongoing commitment to 100 percent mission success,\u201d said Will Crawford, ULA\u2019s NRO program manager. \u201cMy sincere thanks to the entire ULA team and our mission partners at the NRO and U.S. Air Force who made this, our 27th NRO launch, possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The launch was delayed from December to allow engineers to complete checks of a new avionics package that flew for the firt time on a Delta 4. ULA\u2019s \u201ccommon avionics\u201d system is designed to fly on both of the company\u2019s workhorse rockets \u2014 the Atlas 5 and Delta 4 \u2014 to reduce manpower and costs for each mission.<\/p>\n

The common avionics upgrade has flown several times on Atlas 5 rockets before its debut on Delta 4 on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first Delta 4 that we\u2019ve launched out of Vandenberg with common avionics,\u201d said Maj. Allen Varghese, the Air Force\u2019s launch director for the NROL-47 mission and director of operations at the 4th Space Launch Squadron. \u201cCommon avionics is a major, multi-year effort to standardize avionics across the ULA fleet for Atlas and Delta. It streamlines hardware and launch day operations,<\/p>\n

High winds at Vandenberg prevented launch Wednesday, and several technical problems halted a countdown Thursday.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The Delta 4 rocket climbs away from Space Launch Complex 6 at Vandenberg, a picturesque site overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Credit: ULA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe are very happy to begin the new year with a successful launch,\u201d said Col. Matthew Skeen, director of the NRO\u2019s Office of Space Launch. \u201cAs with every launch, our success is rooted in teamwork, and we would not be able to do what we do without our government and industry team members.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are grateful for their continued drive to get our critical assets on orbit and their commitment and dedication to our national security mission,\u201d Skeen said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a classified payload for the NRO,\u201d Varghese said in a pre-launch interview. \u201cWe can\u2019t go into the details of what the payload does, but it\u2019s a national security priority, and it\u2019s mission will ensure that the warfighters across the globe have the appropriate intel that they need to be able to support operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Codenamed NROL-47, the satellite lofted Friday will likely join the NRO\u2019s fleet of orbiting radar reconnaissance stations.<\/p>\n

The Delta 4\u2019s trajectory toward the southwest suggested it was bound for an unusual high-inclination retrograde orbit that would allow the rocket\u2019s top secret payload to travel in the opposite direction of Earth\u2019s rotation.<\/p>\n

The NRO\u2019s Topaz radar surveillance satellites gather all-weather, day-and-night imagery for analysis by U.S. intelligence agencies. Previous Delta 4s believed to carry NRO radar reconnaissance craft used the same \u201c5,2\u201d configuration of the rocket, with a 5-meter (16-foot) diameter payload fairing and two solid rocket boosters, and the rockets also arced to the southwest from Vandenberg during missions in 2012 and 2016.<\/p>\n

Two other Topaz satellites are believed by analysts to have launched on Atlas 5 rockets in 2010 and 2013.<\/p>\n

But hazard notices released to mariners and pilots suggested the Delta 4 launching Friday would take a slightly different path, raising questions whether the payload has a different design or function than the NRO\u2019s other Topaz radar spy satellites, according to Marco Langbroek, a experienced amateur satellite tracker who lives in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

The other Topaz satellites went into 685-mile-high (1,100-kilometer) orbits tilted 123 degrees to Earth\u2019s equator, while NROL-47\u2019s track appeared to take it into a slightly higher, 108.6-degree inclination orbit.<\/p>\n

But the the jury is out on NROL-47\u2019s orbit, and a network of amateur satellite trackers will attempt to find the spacecraft based on pre-launch orbital predictions.<\/p>\n

The Topaz satellites are built by Boeing and were originally developed for the NRO\u2019s Future Imagery Architecture program. The radar spy satellites work in conjunction with the NRO\u2019s optical surveillance craft, which carry telescopic cameras to look down on Earth.<\/p>\n

Radars have the benefit of seeing the ground at night and through clouds, revealing structures hidden under the cloak of darkness or camouflaged from conventional cameras.<\/p>\n

The Topaz satellites follow the NRO\u2019s previous generation of radar satellites, known as the Lacrosse fleet. While the Lacrosse satellites orbited at two different inclinations moving in the same direction as Earth\u2019s rotation, the Topaz craft fly in retrograde orbits.<\/p>\n

The reason for the change in orbits remains a mystery.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsidering that Lacrosse operated in two different orbital inclinations, it may be that FIA Radar is about to do likewise with the payload of NROL-47,\u201d said Ted Molczan, an experienced satellite tracker who lives in Canada. \u201cAnother possibility is that the payload of NROL-47 is a new generation of radar, intended to operate at a lower inclination.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf and when (NROL-47) is found, analysis of its orbit may offer clues regarding its mission and possible relationship to FIA Radar,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s launch was the 36th flight of a Delta 4 rocket since 2002, and the seventh from Vandenberg.<\/p>\n

It was the last launch of a medium-lift, single-core version of the Delta 4 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base. ULA is retiring the \u201csingle-stick\u201d Delta 4 family in favor of the less expensive Atlas 5, before eventually replacing both rockets with the next-generation Vulcan launcher.<\/p>\n

Two more single-core Delta 4s are slated to launch from Cape Canaveral.<\/p>\n

The heavy-lift version of the Delta 4, comprising three of the rocket\u2019s first stages bolted together, will remain in service through at least the early 2020s to deploy the NRO\u2019s most massive satellites. Those payloads weigh too much for the Atlas 5 or SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket, the two other launch vehicles currently certified to haul costly U.S. military and intelligence-gathering satellites into orbit.<\/p>\n

The next flight by ULA is scheduled for next week, when an Atlas 5 rocket will blast off Jan. 18 from Cape Canaveral with the Air Force\u2019s fourth SBIRS early warning satellite toward geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 miles) over the equator.<\/p>\n

Three more Delta 4s are set for launch this year. The next one is scheduled for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on July 31 with NASA\u2019s Parker Solar Probe, using the triple-core Delta 4-Heavy configuration.<\/p>\n

Two more Delta 4 missions are slated late this year: a Delta 4-Heavy from Vandenberg with another classified NRO satellite, and a Delta 4-Medium from Cape Canaveral with the Air Force\u2019s tenth WGS communications craft.<\/p>\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 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base on Friday. Credit: ULA A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket climbed into orbit Friday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with a top secret spy satellite, adding a new set of eyes in the sky for the U.S. government\u2019s […]<\/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":[3066,1878,3067,1688,25,848,3068,3069],"class_list":["post-14075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-30th-space-wing","tag-delta","tag-delta-379","tag-delta-4","tag-launch","tag-national-reconnaissance-office","tag-nrol-47","tag-space-launch-complex-6"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14075"}],"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=14075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14075\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}