America will say goodbye to the Delta IV Heavy rocket. The launcher will make its swan song this Thursday, March 28, 2024. The flight can be followed live.
The NROL-70 mission will be the final flight of the Delta IV Heavy rocket, after 20 years of operational activity. The launcher is gradually being retired to make way for a new rocket, Vulcan. This must not only replace the entire Delta IV family, but also the Atlas V range of rockets.
The flight in summary:
- What ? The final flight of the Delta IV Heavy rocket;
- When ? March 28, 2024, from 6:40 p.m. (Paris time);
- Or ? From the Cape Canaveral Launch Station, Florida.
What is the mission?
For the grand finale of the Delta IV Heavy rocket, we could have hoped for a mission out of the ordinary. Nay: the launcher’s sixteenth and final flight will be like all the others: a classified takeoff, since it involves transporting a reconnaissance satellite into space on behalf of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).
In the United States, the NRO is one of several agencies active in the intelligence field, along with well-known organizations such as the FBI, the CIA or the NSA. The NRO’s role is to pilot the fleet of US spy satellites and provide analysis based on the information they collect.
Historically, the Delta IV Heavy has practically only been used to expand the NRO’s resources, except on two occasions: in 2014, when it was necessary to carry out a flight test of the Orion space vehicle, and in 2018 for the launch of the Parker solar probe. There was also the first flight to consider, which was a mission carrying a demonstrator.
The career of the Delta IV Heavy, although brief, has been practically perfect: of the fifteen flights already operated, fourteen have gone well. The very first, which occurred on December 21, 2004, experienced an incident. It has since been considered a partial failure. It now remains to be seen whether the 16th flight will extend this success one last time.
The Delta IV Heavy is a rocket built by the United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, two American companies. This is a variant of the Delta IV, which exists in several variations. However, this family of launchers must be replaced by a new rocket, the Vulcan, which made its first flight in January 2024.
When does the last flight of the American rocket take off?
Subject to good weather over Florida, the departure of the Delta IV Heavy rocket is scheduled for Thursday March 28, 2024, from 6:40 p.m. (Paris time). On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, it will be early afternoon, given the time difference.
Where to follow the live launch of the Delta IV Heavy?
The launch will be broadcast on the United Launch Alliance website, and via the embedded player below.
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