ULA now only has one more Delta rocket left to launch

Early Thursday morning, ULA launched its first mission of the year, which also happened to be the company’s largest offering, the Delta IV Heavy. The launch was a bittersweet moment, as this now means only one more of this original “big orange rocket” is left to fly.

After a short delay due to weather, at 5:18 A.M., the penultimate (I used that word just for you Daryl) Delta IV Heavy lifted off from SLC-37B. With its iconic fiery ignition, the former king of heavy lift rockets gave the space coast a show. It was probably also a pretty awesome alarm clock for anyone that wasn’t already awake.

The payload was typical for the Delta IV and ULA, a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office. ULA has specialized in launching these sensitive government payloads with immense precision. The mission designation for this launch was NROL-68, nothing has been shared as to specifics of the payload. However, we do know it is an intelligence satellite, that’s kind of the entire purpose of the NRO. Also, we can guess which kind it was.

It’s been speculated that the previous two Delta IV Heavy flights launched KH-11 spy satellites. However, those took off from California and into polar orbits. KH-11 satellites capture large sweeping images of the Earth, and polar orbits allow you to see the entire globe.

The last reconnaissance satellite launched from Florida was on the trouble some NROL-44 mission and was supposedly an Orion signal intelligence satellite. These large, like very large, satellites sit in geostationary orbit with an estimated 100-meter-wide radio dish. If I was a betting man I would bet this was what was on board that rocket, however the NRO will never confirm that.

These are highly classified satellites, and by the request of the NRO, ULA cut its live coverage after the shutdown of the Delta IV Heavy’s second stage.

The final launch of the Delta IV Heavy rocket is set for 2024 from Florida.

An end of an era

While the Delta IV Heavy hasn’t launched a lot, 15 so far, this was Delta IV’s 45th mission overall. Also, the Delta rocket has heritage dating back to the 50s as the nation’s first ballistic missile.

That heritage will live on in technology rather than a name in ULA’s replacement for the Delta IV, the Vulcan rocket. Still awaiting its first launch, Vulcan will take over all launches for both ULA’s Delta and Atlas rockets. It is also supposed to be more cost competitive with SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Heavy rockets.

ULA just finished a Flight Readiness Firing of the first Vulcan booster which went well. Now ULA will have to finish the fix to an anomaly found during a test of the Centaur V upper stage, which exploded on a test stand earlier this year.

After that is complete and ULA has flown the rocket twice, then the Space Force will sign off on it to launch the expensive, sensitive, and lucrative national security missions.