United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office successfully lifted off from Space Launch Complex 37 at CCAFS at 9:47 p.m. EST (0247 UTC) today. The launch was originally scheduled for 2005, but was delayed due to a number of issues, and lift-off took place at 0247 UTC on 18 January 2009.This was the first Delta IV Heavy mission for the NRO. Designated NROL-26, the mission is in support of national defense. This was the third Delta IV Heavy launch in Delta program history.
“This first Delta IV Heavy launch for the NRO is the culmination of years of hard work and dedication by the combined NRO, Air Force, supplier and ULA team,” said Jim Sponnick, ULA Vice President, Delta Product Line.
NROL-26 is a classified spacecraft which is to be operated by the United States National Reconnaissance Office.
According to reports by Aviation Week and other sources, NROL-26 is believed to be either the first Intruder satellite or an Advanced Orion, ELINT satellite.
Aviation Week reports, "It fundamentally involves America's biggest, most secret and expensive military spacecraft on board the world's largest rocket." The combined cost of the spacecraft and launch vehicle has been estimated to be over US$2 billion.
You can read the Aviation Week article online at
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=space&id=news/NRODSP12108.xml
Kevin Fetter on the SEESAT-L group posted these updated element sets based on last night's launch:
GTO burn at 1st descending node 278 X 36398 km
1 70502U 9018.341849515 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 03
2 70502 27.2800 337.3117 7307000 182.9000 167.5000 2.23480000 05
GTO burn at 1st ascending node 278 X 36398 km
1 70503U 09018.16413612 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 04
2 70503 27.2800 337.1517 7307000 3.4000 359.6000 2.23480000 09
Photo by Pat Corkery, courtesy of ULA.“We appreciate the support from our mission partners in achieving this milestone. ULA is pleased to contribute to our nation’s security, and to continue our strong partnership with the NRO. We look forward to launching many more NRO missions on ULA’s Delta IV Medium, Delta IV Heavy and Atlas V vehicles.” The ULA Delta IV Heavy vehicle featured a center common booster core with two strap-on common booster cores. Each common booster core was powered by the RS-68 cryogenic engine. An RL10B-2 cryogenic engine powered the second stage. Both engines are built by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. The payload was encased by a 5-meter diameter (16.7-foot diameter) aluminum, tri-sector payload fairing. ULA constructed the Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle in Decatur, Ala. This was the first launch for ULA in 2009. ULA's next launch is NASA’s NOAA-N Prime mission currently scheduled for Feb. 4, aboard a Delta II from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.