Delta 4 – Spaceflight Now

ULA concludes six decades of Delta rocket flights with final Delta 4 Heavy mission

April 9, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The issue with a gaseous nitrogen pipeline that caused the late March launch scrub was able to be resolved, according to NASA and its contractor, Air Liquide. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 37 occurred at 12:53 p.m. EDT (1653 UTC).

High winds, gaseous nitrogen pump failure force scrub of the final launch of Delta 4 Heavy minutes before liftoff

March 28, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The 16th and last launch of the Delta 4 Heavy configuration also marks the end of Delta line of launch vehicles. NROL-70 with be the 389th Delta launch since 1960 and 45th Delta 4 rocket.

Delta 4-Heavy rocket lifts off with NRO spy satellite

June 22, 2023 Stephen Clark

The second-to-last flight of United Launch Alliance’s Delta rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral early Thursday and delivered a top secret spy satellite into orbit for the U.S. government, snapping the longest lull in launches in ULA’s history.

ULA’s Delta rocket assembly line falls silent

June 20, 2023 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance has closed its Delta rocket assembly line in Alabama after the 389th and last Delta rocket rolled out of the factory for the journey to its launch base in Florida, clearing real estate in ULA’s sprawling manufacturing center for the next-generation Vulcan launch vehicle.

Penultimate Delta rocket to launch next month on ULA’s first mission of 2023

March 22, 2023 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance’s second-to-last Delta 4-Heavy rocket is scheduled to blast off from Cape Canaveral April 20 with a classified cargo for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency, a mission that will mark ULA’s first flight of the year, officials announced this week.

Military officials forecast 87 launches from Florida’s Space Coast in 2023

January 2, 2023 Stephen Clark

The U.S. Space Force is preparing for as many as 87 launches from Florida’s Space Coast in 2023, including dozens more SpaceX missions and the expected debuts of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan and Relativity’s Terran 1 rockets.

SpaceX booster launches for record 15th time on Starlink mission

December 17, 2022 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched 54 more Starlink internet satellites Saturday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, using a Falcon 9 booster on its 15th flight to space, a record for the company’s reusable rocket fleet. The mission was also the third Falcon 9 rocket flight in less than 34 hours from SpaceX’s three active launch pads in less.

Delta 4-Heavy rocket deploys spysat on final planned mission from ‘Slick Six’

September 24, 2022 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance sent a triple-core Delta 4-Heavy with a top secret U.S. government spy satellite into orbit Saturday from California’s Central Coast, closing out a chapter in the tangled history of a launch pad originally built to support military astronaut missions on Titan rockets and space shuttles. Two more Delta 4-Heavy rockets are left in ULA’s inventory for launches in 2023 and 2024 from Cape Canaveral.

Live coverage: Delta 4-Heavy rocket launches from California

September 24, 2022 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance’s Delta 4-Heavy rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 3:25 p.m. PDT (6:25 p.m. EDT; 2225 GMT) Saturday with a classified spacecraft for the National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency. The heavy-lifter launched for the final time from California, with two more Delta 4-Heavy flights remaining from Cape Canaveral before the rocket’s retirement.

Photos: Delta 4-Heavy rocket on the launch pad in California

September 23, 2022 Stephen Clark

These views show United Launch Alliance’s 233-foot-tall Delta 4-Heavy rocket standing on Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on the eve of liftoff with a classified spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office. This will be the final Delta launch from the West Coast.