After a string of disappointing delays, the United Launch Alliance Delta 4 heavy rocket finally took off from the newly named Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Thursday evening, miles around the night sky, as it grew into a top-secret National Reconnaissance Spy. Space.
Powering the triple-core first phase of the booster were three Aerojet Rocketdin RS-68A engines, E.S.T. Ignited by a flame explosion at 8:09 p.m., three and a half months after a dramatic last-second abortion on 29 August Gust on trouble with ground equipment.
Further trouble was found with Delta’s launching pad after that, which triggered additional delays, but eventually the count reached zero and the heavy-lift booster pad 37 in the military launch complex was swept away.
United Launch Alliance
Known for decades as the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the base was named earlier this week by Vice President Mike Pence at a ceremony that included the nearby Patrick Air Force – now Space Force – Base. U.S. These two installations are in the first place to be renamed in transition to the operation of the Space Force.
Like the Delta 4 Heavy Launch, the orange flames emitted from the base of the rocket ignited free hydrogen gas in the fury of the engine ignition. But like a 233-foot-3 booster, the flames quickly melted, rushing eastward into the Atlantic Ocean.
After less than a minute-and-a-half, the large Delta 4 emerged from the thick lower atmosphere advancing at a speed of sound and through a zone of maximum aerodynamics pressure.
The rocket’s two side boosters were shut down and planned about four minutes after the lift off, following the central general booster core about two planned minutes later. The Delta 4’s second-stage RL10 engine, built by Aerojet Rockettin, at the time, took over the position to move into orbit.
The second stage engine was lit by the United Lunch Alliance and the rest of its flight was completed after public silence, the standard procedure for classified missions. No details have been released about the satellite payload.
Ted Molkzen, a respected independent satellite analyst, said the east-east route, the use of the powerful Delta 4 heavy rocket and the timing of the flight indicate that the heavy weight signals indicate the size of a giant dilapidated antenna football field in the intelligence satellite report. .
In any case, it was the 41st launch of the Delta 4 since the rocket’s launch in 2002 and the 12th flight of the heavy variant. Only four more heavyweights remain in ULA’s inventory, as the company shifts to newer, lower-priced Vulcan rockets that will eventually replace both Delta 4 and ULA’s Atlas 5 rockets.
The original Delta 4 Heavy was scheduled for takeoff on August 26, but the launch slipped one day at the request of the NRO. The attempt on Ground Gust 27 was canceled due to the issue of launch pad pneumatics, followed by a last-second abortion on 29 August with more difficulty with ground equipment.
After fixing that issue, engineers ran into problems with the system used to withdraw gantry access weapons from rockets during launch, then again with bad weather and more pad problems. But on Thursday, the countdown finally went all the way to zero and the rocket exploded in spectacular fashion.
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