The last Delta-IV Heavy type model, built in Alabama, blasted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The booster carried the NROL-70 payload, reportedly a spy satellite, for the National Reconnaissance Office. The Delta-IV Heavy was built at the United Launch Alliance factory in Decatur. Future launches on future Alabama rockets are planned.
In a news release, ULA said…
“Thank you to our teammates past and present for their dedication to these critical national security missions,” said Gary Wentz, ULA vice president of Government and Commercial Programs. “The Delta IV Heavy rocket was a workhorse for the NRO, launching 12 missions delivering critical national security payloads. The NROL-70 mission marked our 35th successful launch with the NRO and we look forward to continuing our partnership launching future national security space missions.”
“The Delta rocket played a pivotal role in the evolution of space flight since the 1960s,” said Tory Bruno, ULA’s president and CEO. “This final Delta mission signals ULA’s evolution to the new Vulcan rocket, providing even higher performance than our three-core Delta IV Heavy rocket in a single-core rocket to launch heavy-class missions for the nation. We will continue to deliver our superior reliability and unprecedented orbital precision for all our customers across the national security, civil and commercial markets.” Built
The Huntsville area is expected remain busy, building rockets for future space missions for NASA and commercial launch companies. An Alabama Atlas-V rocket will be used for the first crewed flight test of Boeing’s new Starliner capsule. Veteran NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams will be on board as the new vehicle attempts to blastoff on a docking mission to the International Space Station. NASA hired Boeing and SpaceX to build and operate crew exchange craft to carry astronauts to and from the orbiting laboratory. Assuming that Atlas-V mission is successful, Astronauts Mike Fincke, Scott Tingle, and Canadian Joshua Kutryk are scheduled to fly the first operational Starliner mission, also boosted by an Alabama built Atlas.
The commercial space launch company Sierra Space is also preparing its new “mini” space shuttle, called the Dream Chaser, for a possible Fall liftoff. The unmanned cargo carrying space plane, dubbed “Tenacity,” would fly on a new model of Alabama built rocket, called the Vulcan. Published reports say this liftoff could be delayed until 2025 due to scheduling and technical issues.
