With the launch being just one day away, on Monday, a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket is in final preparations to launch the NROL-82 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) to support national security. The launch is on track for April 26 from Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base at 1:46 p.m. PDT. The live launch broadcast begins at 1:26 p.m. PDT on April 26 .
“ULA is proud of our long-standing history supporting national security space. The unmatched performance of the Delta IV Heavy is essential for launching some of our nation’s most critical national security space missions and we look forward to delivering this critical asset to space,” said Gary Wentz, ULA vice president of Government and Commercial Programs. “It takes a cross-functional team to support a national security launch and we would like to thank our mission partners for their continued trust, collaboration and teamwork.”
The Delta IV Heavy is the nation’s proven heavy lifter, delivering high-priority missions for the U.S. Space Force, NRO and NASA. The vehicle also launched NASA’s Orion capsule on its first orbital test flight and sent the Parker Solar Probe on its journey to unlock the mysteries of the Sun.
This Delta IV Heavy is comprised of three common core boosters each powered by an Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68A liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engine producing a combined total of more than 2.1 million pounds of thrust. The second stage is powered by an AR RL10B-2 liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engine.
This will be the 42nd launch of the Delta IV rocket and the 13th in the Heavy configuration. To date ULA has launched 142 times with 100 percent mission success.