* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: DSP 23 satellite

Blobrana · L

View the Launch: 100, 300 (Windows Mediaplayer Stream)

Blobrana · L

L minus 1 hour

Blobrana · L

The behemoth of the military's rocket fleet is ready to return to flight tonight in a nighttime spectacular that should rival a space shuttle or the legendary Saturn 5 moon booster for viewers along the Space Coast.
The gargantuan Delta 4-Heavy, which last flew four days before Christmas in 2004, has been kept on the ground by a series of factors, most of which had nothing to do with correcting a fuel system problem that caused the rocket's engines to shut down too soon on the inaugural mission.
Tonight, rocket enthusiasts and others on the Space Coast will get to enjoy the show when the largest liquid-fuelled rocket since the Saturn 5 blasts off between 8:39 and 10:42 p.m. on a slow, straight-up path that will give spectators a longer-than-normal look.
There is a 30 percent chance that winds around the pad will be unsafe for launch, but otherwise weather looks good for flight, officials said.

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Blobrana · L

A United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket is to launch the last US Defence Support Program missile-warning satellite, from the SLC-37B launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, US at 01:40 GMT Nov. 11 (20:40 EST, Nov. 10)
The Delta 4-H, the Heavy version, will have three Common Booster Cores mounted together to deliver the DSP 23 satellite into geostationary orbit.

Blobrana · L

The upcoming launch of the heavy version of the Delta 4 on its first operational mission has been delayed until some time this summer in order to repair cracks on its Cape Canaveral launch pad. The Delta 4 Heavy was scheduled to lift off next month to place the DSP 23 missile warning satellite into orbit. However, Air Force officials said Wednesday they were now targeting summer as the next possible launch date. Aviation Week reported last weekend that a liquid oxygen leak during a recent fuelling test caused structural damage to a metallic launch table at the pad. The incident is still under investigation. The launch will be the first operational mission for the Delta 4 Heavy, the most powerful EELV variant. The Delta 4 Heavy first flew in December 2004, carrying a test payload; that satellite ended up in a lower-than-planned orbit because of a propellant flow problem in the launch vehicle.

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Blobrana · L

A United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket will launch the 23rd and final Defence Support Program missile-warning satellite, from SLC-37B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on April 1st.
The launch window extends from 16:00 to 20:00 GMT.
The vehicle will deliver the DSP 23 satellite 35,970 kilometres above the earth in a geosynchronous orbit.

“After a two-hour delay, workers lifted a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy rocket to the vertical position on the launch pad.
When it lifts off in the spring, it will be only the second time one of these has ever been launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.”

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