Well folks, it’s time for the final launch of the Delta IV Heavy!
| Scheduled for (UTC) | 2024-04-08 16:57 |
|---|---|
| Scheduled for (local) | 2024-04-08 12:57 (EDT) |
| Launch site | SLC-37B, Cape Canaveral SFS, Florida. |
| Launch provider | United Launch Alliance (ULA) |
| Launch vehicle | Delta IV Heavy |
| Customer | National Reconnaissance Office |
| Payload | NROL-70 |
| Mission success criteria | Successful launch and deployment of payload into desired orbit |
Livestreams
| Stream | Link |
|---|---|
| ULA | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCoyHHhX3rw |
| NASASpaceFlight | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmYYhRBCwmU |
| Spaceflight Now | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DajlB_jUPM |
| The Launch Pad | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqLtN_FRz-U |
| Space Affairs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd5KWlIN964 |
| Everyday Astronaut | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dViXwBU6ncA |
Launch statistics and payload info
☑️ 1st (and only) Delta IV Heavy mission of 2024
☑️ 16th and final Delta IV Heavy mission overall
☑️ 2nd ULA mission of 2024
☑️ 160th ULA mission overall
Payload info (Next Spaceflight)
NROL-70 is a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.
ULA mission page: https://www.ulalaunch.com/missions/next-launch/delta-iv-heavy-nrol-70
Mission profile: Delta IV Heavy NROL-70 Mission Profile
Previous ULA launch: Vulcan Cert-1
Wishing ULA all the best for the final launch of this magnificently chonky and fiery hydrogen rocket!
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In case anybody is curious about the payload:
Like most NRO missions, details of the payload are classified; however, information that has been made public leaves little doubt that it is an electronic signals intelligence (ELINT) satellite bound for geostationary orbit. From this high perch, the satellite will intercept radio signals from terrestrial sources and relay them back to the NRO for analysis.
The NRO’s geostationary ELINT satellites are part of a series known as Orion, which began with the deployment of the USA-8 spacecraft from the Space Shuttle Discovery during 1985’s STS-51C mission. The first two satellites were launched aboard the Space Shuttle, the next three by Titan IV rockets, with the Delta IV Heavy having been used since 2009. The NROL-70 mission will be the 17th Delta IV launch for the NRO — 12 of which have used the Delta IV Heavy — and the seventh time an Orion satellite has launched aboard a Delta IV.
ULA Flickr photo from December:
Payload mating in February:
Sunrise timelapse from Tory on the day before launch: https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/1773034150330573056
https://www.ulalaunch.com/missions/next-launch/delta-iv-heavy-nrol-70
ULA Launch Director Tom Heter III has instructed the launch team to coordinate a new liftoff time of 2:45 p.m. EDT (1845 UTC) for the Delta IV Heavy rocket on the NROL-70 mission from Cape Canaveral tonight.
ULA webcast is live. Andrea Lehnhoff is hosting.
Hold called at T-3:55. Flight control identified a CCLS red-line fault. Countdown clock reset to T-4:00 and holding.
Detanking. Scrub for the day. 24-hour recycle.
Polling is complete, they are go for launch.
Updates from Tory:
https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/1773435824425619917
We exceeded the limit for winds and had to call a hold with a 4 min recycle
During the hold, a GN2 pipeline ground pump failed causing a scrub
See you tomorrow
https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/1773445042717290719
Pump has been repaired. On track for tomorrow’s window
https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/1773456600231035149
Just a selfy with the business end of the venerable RS68 space launch class LOX/LH2 engine. #DeltaIVHeavy #NROL70. #DeltaFinale
https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/1773475382471123131
Pump failed again. Rolling the MST. Our USG partners are working it hard. Stand by
This thread is no longer being updated, and has been replaced by: [Take 2] ULA NROL-70 launch thread! (final launch of Delta IV Heavy)
