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History of the Delta Launch Vehicle



Current Delta News

(What about Delta IV?)
12-Oct-99 | Delta flight 275 – NAVSTAR IIR-3

The first NAVSTAR GPS satellite to replenish the constellation since November 1997 was launched aboard Delta 275 on Thursday, October 7, from Cape Canaveral’s SLC-17A. The flight of GPS 2R-3, which was a complete success, had been delayed by several months thanks to numerous bouts of bad weather, including a heavy rain in May that led to the original spacecraft for this flight being returned to Lockheed Martin for repairs, last month’s threat from Hurricane Floyd, and lightning indications during the time slated for second stage fuelling. Oddly, the last day’s delay was caused not only by a forecast of lousy weather, but also by the sun — a satellite used to relay telemetry from Antigua passed in front of the sun and would have resulted in a 6-minute data blackout during the flight. Following all of that, it only stands to reason that the countdown was flawless and the bird flew a mere 0.686 seconds after the opening of the launch window. The payload separated into its transfer orbit 68 minutes later. Seventeen more GPS satellites are manifested aboard Delta II; nine are set to fly before the end of 2001.

13-Sep-99 | Next launch

The next Delta launch will be from Cape Canaveral. It will carry the first Navstar GPS satellite to replenish the constellation since November 1997, and the first of 13 set to fly before the end of 2001. Preparations for launch have been put on hold, and workers are securing the launch vehicle, mobile service tower, and all of Complex 17 (as well as KSC and the rest of CCAFS) in expectation of Hurricane Floyd, which may strike Florida as early as Wednesday. Improvements to the 17A white room in the wake of the water impingement in May are complete, although the spacecraft will remain in the Payload Processing Facility until the all-clear is sounded. Any possible delay to the launch schedule is, like the weather, uncertain.

11-Sep-99 | MCO on approach

On 23 September, Mars Climate Orbiter will fire its main engine for approximately 17 minutes to drop out of heliocentric orbit and begin Mars Orbit Insertion. One of two ships in the Mars Surveyor 1998 program, MCO will then perform a two-month aerobraking phase, followed by a full Martian year of observations to better understand the seasonal changes on that planet. It was launched from Cape Canaveral on 11 December, 1998, the 264th launch of a Delta rocket.

17-Aug-99 | Delta flight 274 – Globalstar-6

Delta 274 launched from Cape Canaveral at 00:37:41.193 EDT on 17 August, taking four Globalstar satellites to orbit. Boeing has declared a new record for the greatest number of satellites launched in the shortest period of time: 17 sats in 68 days. Sixteen of these have been for Globalstar; two more launches will be on Deltas while the remainder of their constellation will be flown aboard Soyuz rockets.

16-Aug-99 | Stardust goes into safe mode twice

Stardust is in good health despite two safe-mode events within the past few weeks. The explanation is rife with acronyms but has to do with a software error causing problems with navigational star camera communications. Stardust, the fourth mission* in the NASA Discovery Program, will fly close to comet Wild-2 and will be the first spacecraft to return cometary material to Earth for analysis. It was launched aboard Delta 266 on 7 February, 1999.

29-Jul-99 | Deep Space 1 update

Deep Space 1 has been in excellent health since its launch on Delta 261 in October 1998, and has exceeded nearly every requirement in tests of its new technologies. On 29 July it flew within 10 miles of the newly-named asteroid 9969 Braille (formerly 1992 KD) using only its experimental AutoNav guidance system. Unfortunately, DS1 lost track of the mile-wide asteroid about 20 minutes before conjunction and was unable to take any images, no great surprise considering the relative speed of almost 35,000 mph. Controllers are hopeful that funding will allow them to extend DS1’s mission past a September end date, since two comet passes are available in 2000.

27-Jul-99 | Iridum flights cancelled

As Iridium struggles with financial difficulties, its “as-needed” 12th and 13th missions aboard Delta II have quietly slipped from the schedule. Apparently Iridium needs customers more than it needs orbiting satellites. Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department has bought 1,000 portable phones in a $1.4 million contract, but whether this is due to the security of Iridium’s non-reliance on terrestrial networks, or an attempt to help Motorola keep the company afloat, is uncertain.

27-Jul-99 | SIRTF at risk of cancellation

SIRTF, a NASA infrared telescope, may be in danger of cancellation, as the U.S. House Appropriations Committee has approved a FY2000 budget that eliminates the $100 million requested for this project. Future Mars missions, including the endangered Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander, also took a $75 million hit. (Meanwhile, the Boeing Launch Manifest has returned to stating that SIRTF will fly on a 7920-H, implying the use of higher-powered booster motors on a Delta II. That is, if it flies at all.)

27-Jul-99 | Landsat-7 enters service

Landsat-7 was placed successfully into its proper orbit by a Delta 7920 on Thursday, 15 April, and is in excellent health. The first few weeks were spent on systems checkout and calibration, along with taking a handful of images for public relations purposes. Then, a series of orbital manoeuvres placed Landsat 7 in proximity with Landsat 5, allowing controllers to make simultaneous observations and cross-calibrate the two satellites. In this way they may fully understand the imaging characteristics of the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) aboard the new spacecraft. Full-scale data distribution was expected to be available around 15 July, though no new announcements had been placed on the website as of 27 July. The Landsat program, frequently referred to as “the central pillar of the national remote sensing capability,” has been continuously providing Earth images in visible and infrared wavelengths since 1972.

26-Jul-99 | Delta flight 273 – Globalstar-5

Following a one-day postponement to allow the Shuttle to successfully deliver Chandra to orbit, Boeing’s fifth mission for Globalstar was performed on Sunday morning, 25 July, completing the system’s initial constellation of 32 satellites. The two-stage Delta with 4 solid booster motors lifted off from Cape Canaveral’s SLC-17B at an official range time of 03:46:03.329 EDT, in the first of two possible windows, and deployed its payload of 4 satellites nominally.

The next Delta launch will continue the summer spate of Globalstar missions. The first opportunity will be in less than 0 days.

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