Launch Vehicle
Delta IV Heavy
United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV Heavy is a heavy-lift launch vehicle, the largest type of the Delta IV family and one of the world’s most powerful rockets. The Delta IV Heavy configuration is comprised of a common booster core (CBC), a cryogenic upper stage and a 5-meter diameter payload fairing (PLF). The Delta IV Heavy employs two additional CBCs as liquid rocket boosters to augment the first-stage CBC. The Delta IV Heavy can lift 28,370 kg (62,540 lbs) to low Earth orbit and 13,810 kg (30,440 lbs) to geostationary transfer orbit. It is an all liquid-fueled rocket, consisting of an upper stage, one main booster and two strap-on boosters.
Payload Fairing (PLF)
The PLF encapsulates the spacecraft to protect it from the launch environment on ascent. The 19.2-m (63-ft) long PLF makes the vehicle’s height approximately 71.0 m (233 ft).
Delta Cryogenic Second Stage (DCSS)
The DCSS is a cryogenic liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen fueled vehicle, with a single RL10C-2-1 engine that produces 110.1 kilo-Newtons (24,750 lbs) of thrust.
Boosters
The Delta IV booster propulsion is provided by three liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen-burning RS-68A engines. Each RS-68A engine produces 312.3 kilo-Newtons (705,250 lbs) of thrust for a combined total liftoff thrust of more than 2.1 million pounds.
Site Info
Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37)
NROL-44 launched from Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37), the East Coast home of the Delta IV rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. SLC-37 is a classic launch pad design with a Fixed Umbilical Tower and a Mobile Service Tower. NASA constructed SLC-37 in the 1960s for un-crewed test flights in the Apollo- Saturn program. The complex consists of two launch pads, SLC-37A and SLC-37B; SLC-37A has never been used, but SLC-37B launched un-crewed Saturn I flights (1964 to 1965) and Saturn IB flights (1966 to 1968), including the first un-crewed test of the Apollo Lunar Module in space. Starting in the late 1990s, SLC-37B was modified to serve as the launch site for Delta IV.