The Air Force on Aug. 28 successfully launched the National Reconnaissance Office’s (NRO) NROL-65 satellite around 2:08 p.m. EST from Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
The launch took place on one of United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Delta IV heavy rockets. NROL-65 was ULA’s eighth launch in 2013 and the company’s 74th overall, according to ULA. The mission was the 24th Delta IV flight since the vehicle’s inaugural launch in 2002 and the second time the Delta IV heavy has launched from the West Coast.
The Delta IV heavy launch 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, a division ofGenCorp [GY]. 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 is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Boeing [BA].