Massive Delta IV Rocket Lifts Off With Secret Spy Satellite
A United Space Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket launched a classified spy satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office from the Vandenberg Air Force Base Space Launch Complex 6. This was the first launch of a Delta IV Heavy from the west coast It is the largest rocket ever launched from the U.S. West Coast. The 235ft-tall Delta IV Heavy Launch Vehicle lifted off at 1.10pm local time yesterday with a classified U.S. government defense satellite on board. Carrying cargo for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the booster rose into the sky over California’s central coast and arced over the Pacific Ocean, a spectacle visible from 50 miles away.
The rocket hit speeds of 17,500mph as it climbed toward space. Six minutes after lift-off, the first stage of the rocket broke away and splashed down in the Pacific. United Launch Alliance (ULA), the joint venture of rocket builders Lockheed Martin and Boeing, said in a statement that the launch was a success. This was the fifth launch of a Delta IV but the first from the West Coast. The other four launches were at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Capable of generating nearly two million pounds of thrust, the liquid-fuel rocket has a central core booster and two strap-on boosters that make the assembly 50ft wide.
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