National Reconnaissance Office Mission Successfully Launches
on World's Largest Rocket, the United Launch Alliance Delta
IV Heavy
Aug. 28,
2013
A United Launch Alliance (ULA)
Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying a payload for the National
Reconnaissance Office (NRO) lifted off from Space Launch
Complex-6 here at 11:03 a.m. PDT
today. Designated NROL-65, the mission is in support of
national defense. This is ULA's eighth launch in 2013, the
24th Delta IV mission and the second Delta IV
Heavy launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
"We are truly honored to deliver
this critical asset to orbit," said
Jim Sponnick, ULA vice
president, Atlas and Delta Programs. "The ULA Delta IV Heavy
is currently the world's largest rocket, providing the
nation with reliable, proven, heavy lift capability for our
country's national security payloads from both the east and
west coasts. I congratulate the combined NRO, Air
Force, ULA, and supplier team on today's successful launch
of the NROL-65 mission."
This mission was launched aboard a
Delta IV Heavy configuration Evolved Expendable Launch
Vehicle (EELV) which featured a center common booster core
along with two strap-on common booster cores. Each common
booster core was powered by an RS-68 Liquid Hydrogen/Liquid
Oxygen engine producing 663,000 pounds of thrust. A single
RL10 Liquid Hydrogen/Liquid Oxygen engine powered the second
stage. The booster and upper stage engines are both built by
Aerojet Rocketdyne. The payload was encased by a five-meter
diameter (16.7-foot diameter), 65-foot, metallic tri-sector
payload fairing. ULA constructed the Delta IV Heavy launch
vehicle in
Decatur, Ala.
ULA's next launch is the Atlas V
AEHF-3 mission for the United States Air Force scheduled on
Sept. 18, from Space Launch
Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
The EELV program was established
by the United States Air Force to provide assured access to
space for Department of Defense and other government
payloads. The commercially developed EELV Program supports
the full range of government mission requirements, while
delivering on schedule and providing significant cost
savings over the heritage launch systems.
