List of Delta IV Heavy launches

The Delta 4 Heavy (Delta 9250H) is an expendable heavy-lift launch vehicle, the largest type of the Delta IV family and the world's second highest-capacity rocket in operation, behind SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket (in expendable configuration) and closely followed by CNSA's Long March 5 Rocket.^[1]^[2] It is manufactured by United Launch Alliance and was first launched in 2004.^[3]

The Delta 4 Heavy consists of a central Common Booster Core (CBC), with two additional CBCs as liquid rocket boosters instead of the GEM-60 solid rocket motors used by the Delta IV Medium+ versions. At lift off, all three cores operate at full thrust, and 44 seconds later the center core throttles down to 55% to conserve fuel until booster separation. The boosters burn out at 242 seconds after launch and are separated as the core booster throttles back up to full thrust. The core burns out 86 seconds later, and the second stage completes the ascent to orbit.^[4]

The rocket uses three RS-68 engines, one in the central core and one in each booster.^[5]

Launch History


Flight	Date	Payload ^[6]	Mass	Launch site	Outcome ^[6]
1	December 21, 2004	DemoSat, Sparkie / 3CS-1 and Ralphie / 3CS-2	~13,228 pounds (6000 kilograms)	Cape Canaveral, SLC-37B	Partial failure^[a]
2	November 11, 2007	DSP-23 Defense Support Program	11,574 pounds (5,250 kilograms)	Cape Canaveral, SLC-37B	Success
3	January 18, 2009	Orion 6 / Mentor 4 (USA-202 / NROL-26)	Classified	Cape Canaveral, SLC-37B	Success
4	November 21, 2010	Orion 7 / Mentor 5 (USA-223 / NROL-32)	Classified	Cape Canaveral, SLC-37B	Success
5	January 20, 2011	KH-11 Kennen 15 (USA-224 / NROL-49)	<37,479 pounds (17,000 kilograms)	Vandenberg, SLC-6	Success
6	June 29, 2012	Orion 8 / Mentor 6 (USA-237 / NROL-15)	Classified	Cape Canaveral, SLC-37B	Success
7	August 28, 2013	KH-11 Kennen 16 (USA-245 / NROL-65)	<37,479 pounds (17,000 kilograms)	Vandenberg, SLC-6	Success
8	December 5, 2014	Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1)	46,297 pounds (21,000 kilograms)^[7]^[b]	Cape Canaveral, SLC-37B	Success
9	June 11, 2016	Orion 9 / Mentor 7 (USA-268 / NROL-37)	Classified	Cape Canaveral, SLC-37B	Success
10	August 12, 2018	Parker Solar Probe^[c]	1,510 pounds (685 kilograms)	Cape Canaveral, SLC-37B	Success
11	January 19, 2019	NROL-71	Classified	Vandenberg, SLC-6	Success
12	December 11, 2020	Orion 10 / Mentor 8 (USA-268/ NROL-44)^[8]^[9]	Classified	Cape Canaveral, SLC-37B	Success

Future launches

The data in this table comes from^[10] and ^[11]
Flight	Date	Payload	Mass	Launch site	Outcome
13	April 29, 2021	NROL-82	41,800 pounds (19,000 kilograms)	Vandenberg, SLC-6	Planned

Notes

^ CBCs underperformed, lower orbit than planned
^ The officially reported mass of 21,000 kg includes the Launch Abort System (LAS) which did not reach orbit, but excludes the residual mass of the upper stage, which did reach orbit, likely offsetting the mass of the LAS.
^ Star 48BV upper stage

References

^ "Mission Status Center". SpaceflightNow. Retrieved 26 July 2014. The ULA Delta 4-Heavy is currently the world's largest rocket, providing the nation with reliable, proven, heavy lift capability for our country's national security payloads from both the east and west coasts.
^ "Falcon Heavy, SpaceX's Big New Rocket, Succeeds in Its First Test Launch". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2018. The Falcon Heavy is capable of lifting 140,000 pounds to low-Earth orbit, more than any other rocket today.
^ "Boeing Delta IV Heavy Achieves Major Test Objectives in First Flight" Archived 19 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Boeing, 2004, accessed 22 March 2012.
^ Cite error: The named reference d4ppg was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Delta 4-Heavy likely heading for geosynchronous orbit with top secret payload". Spaceflight Now. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
^ ^a ^b Krebs, Gunter. "Delta-4". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
^ "NASA Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 PRESS KIT" (PDF). NASA. December 2014. p. 12. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ "Launch Schedule". Spaceflight Now. 27 October 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
^ "Launch Mission Execution Forecast". 45th Weather Squadron - Patrick Air Force Base. 30 October 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ "United Launch Alliance - Delta IV Heavy | NROL-82 Rocket Launch". Space Launch Schedule. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
^ "NROL-44 Investigation Underway, As ULA Prepares for Last Delta IV Heavy Missions". AmericaSpace. 4 September 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2021.

[7] CBCs underperformed, lower orbit than planned

[Orion_EFT-1-9] The officially reported mass of 21,000 kg includes the Launch Abort System (LAS) which did not reach orbit, but excludes the residual mass of the upper stage, which did reach orbit, likely offsetting the mass of the LAS.

[10] Star 48BV upper stage

[1] "Mission Status Center". SpaceflightNow. Retrieved 26 July 2014. The ULA Delta 4-Heavy is currently the world's largest rocket, providing the nation with reliable, proven, heavy lift capability for our country's national security payloads from both the east and west coasts.

[2] "Falcon Heavy, SpaceX's Big New Rocket, Succeeds in Its First Test Launch". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2018. The Falcon Heavy is capable of lifting 140,000 pounds to low-Earth orbit, more than any other rocket today.

[3] "Boeing Delta IV Heavy Achieves Major Test Objectives in First Flight" Archived 19 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Boeing, 2004, accessed 22 March 2012.

[d4ppg-4] Cite error: The named reference d4ppg was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[SFN20200826-5] "Delta 4-Heavy likely heading for geosynchronous orbit with top secret payload". Spaceflight Now. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2020.

[Gunter's_Space_Page-6] Krebs, Gunter. "Delta-4". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 15 March 2018.

[EFT1_press_kit-8] "NASA Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 PRESS KIT" (PDF). NASA. December 2014. p. 12. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

[SFN20201027-11] "Launch Schedule". Spaceflight Now. 27 October 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.

[45th_Weather_Squadron-12] "Launch Mission Execution Forecast". 45th Weather Squadron - Patrick Air Force Base. 30 October 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

[13] "United Launch Alliance - Delta IV Heavy | NROL-82 Rocket Launch". Space Launch Schedule. Retrieved 17 February 2021.

[14] "NROL-44 Investigation Underway, As ULA Prepares for Last Delta IV Heavy Missions". AmericaSpace. 4 September 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2021.

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v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S Chollima-1 Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H-IIA H3 Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 KAIROS^† Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica-1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 7 7A 8 11 11H LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased RS1^† Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v SSLV Starship Tianlong-2 Unha Vega original C Vulcan Centaur Zenit 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 2
In development	Antares 330 Ariane 6 Bloostar Cyclone-4M Epsilon S Eris Gravity-2 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 12 Miura 5 MLV Neutron New Glenn New Line 1 NGLV OS-M 2 4 Orbex Prime Pallas-1 Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R Tianlong-3 VLM Vega E Zero Zhuque 3 Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able^† Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Diamant Dnepr Energia Epsilon Europa I^† II^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan^† Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Rocket 3 Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II^† X-2^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG Zhuque 1^†
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)

v t e Orbital launch systems developed in the United States
Active	Atlas V**^†† Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Minotaur I IV V C Pegasus XL RS1^† SLS Block 1 Starship Vulcan Centaur
In development	Antares 330 Daytona I Firefly Beta New Glenn Neutron Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Terran R
Retired	Antares 110/120/130/230/230+^††† Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able Agena Centaur Conestoga Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" H-I* Juno I Juno II LauncherOne N-I* N-II* Pilot Rocket 3 Saturn I IB V Scout Space Shuttle SPARK Sparta Terran 1 Thor Able Ablestar Agena Burner Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Vanguard
* - Japanese projects using US rockets or stages ** - uses Russian engines ^† - never succeeded ^†† - no new orders accepted ^††† - used Ukrainian first stage