Latest Delta IV Stories

CENTENNIAL, Colo., July 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA's Launch Services Program announced today that it selected United Launch Alliance's (ULA) proven Delta II launch vehicle for three future missions. The newly contracted missions include Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) scheduled to launch in July 2014, Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) scheduled to launch in October 2014, and the Joint Polar Satellite System-1 (JPSS) scheduled to launch in 2016. All three missions will...

ARLINGTON, Va., June 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ATK (NYSE: ATK) technologies supported today's successful launch of a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket carrying a classified satellite (NROL-15) for the National Reconnaissance Office. ATK designed and produced the nozzle for the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR)-built RS-68 first stage engine - the largest hydrogen-powered engine in the world - as well as the nozzle's thermal protection material, which is capable of shielding...

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla., June 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) lifted off from Space Launch Complex-37 here at 9:15 a.m. EDT today. Designated NROL-15, the mission is in support of national defense. "Today's successful launch of the NROL-15 mission is the third of four launches for the NRO this year and the second EELV launch for the NRO in just nine days,"...

CANOGA PARK, Calif., June 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The sky rumbled and the ground shook as the three most powerful hydrogen-fueled liquid rocket engines ever built successfully boosted a U.S. government satellite into orbit. Developed by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, the RS-68A engines thundered into the sky on their inaugural launch, boosting a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from the pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Once above Earth's atmosphere, the...

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A secret satellite launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Friday morning aboard a Delta IV-Heavy rocket, reports the Associated Press (AP). The satellite belongs to the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which is keeping its lips sealed as to what the purpose of the orbiter is. This was the second secret satellite launch the NRO performed in the last two weeks. The first satellite was taken up by an Atlas V rocket on June 20....

CENTENNIAL, Colo., June 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully launched the 50th commercially developed Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV), following the deployment of the National Reconnaissance Office's NROL-38 mission yesterday. Developed by the United States Air Force to provide assured access to space for Department of Defense and other government payloads, the EELV Program - comprised of the Atlas V and Delta IV launch vehicles - supports...

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla., June 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) lifted off from Space Launch Complex-41 here at 8:28 a.m. EDT today. Designated NROL-38, the mission is in support of national defense. "Congratulations to the NRO and to all the mission partners involved in this critical national security launch," said Jim Sponnick, ULA vice president, Mission...

The scheduled launch of an Atlas V rocket carrying a top-secret national security-related payload originally scheduled for Monday morning has been delayed, the United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced on Sunday. According to WFTV.com and Brevard Times reports, the launch was originally scheduled to take place between 8:26am and 9:25am EDT on Monday. However, an environmental control system duct failure discovered Saturday has delayed the launch of the Atlas V 401 rocket and its National...

PROMONTORY, Utah, May 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ATK (NYSE: ATK) and United Launch Alliance (ULA) conducted a successful cold-temperature ground test today of a Graphite Epoxy Motor (GEM-60) solid rocket motor used to boost ULA Delta IV launch vehicles. The main test objectives from today's static motor firing were measuring the rocket motor's performance at cold temperatures, qualifying a new vectorable nozzle on the motor and verifying the performance of new nozzle insulation at...

DENVER, May 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- United Launch Alliance was notified today, that the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) representing its workforce at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., Decatur, Ala., and Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., has accepted the company's new three-year contract offer. This concludes the 2012 contract negotiation process which began several weeks ago. The new contract covers approximately 860 represented...