ULA Scheduled to Launch Classified Payload for NRO Atop Delta-4 Heavy Rocket on August 26 Written 13 August 2020
A United Launch Alliance Delta 4-heavy rocket prepares to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's complex 37, December 2014 | Associated Press–©
Spaceflight Now reports that the United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket is set to launch from Cape Canaveral on August 26, in a launch window that opens and closes sometime between 1:50 a.m. and 6:25 a.m. EDT. The rocket “will carry a classified payload into orbit” for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). Twelve Delta 4-Heavy missions have been flown since 2004 and there are five “Delta 4-Heavy missions left to launch.” ULA CEO Tory Bruno “says there are no plans to build more as the company transitions to the next-generation Vulcan Centaur rocket.” The five remaining Delta-4 Heavy missions “in ULA’s backlog through 2023 will launch NRO satellites.” Military officials “say the NRO payloads booked to launch on the remaining Delta 4-Heavy rockets are unable to launch into their targeted orbits on any other rocket that is currently operational.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)