The Delta 2000 series was an American
expendable launch system
An expendable launch system (or expendable launch vehicle/ELV) is a launch vehicle that can be launched only once, after which its components are either destroyed during reentry or discarded in space. ELVs typically consist of several rocket s ...
which was used to conduct forty-four
orbit
In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such a ...
al launches between 1974 and 1981. It was a member of the
Delta family of rockets. Several variants existed, which were differentiated by a
four digit numerical code. The Delta 1000, 2000 and 3000 series used surplus NASA
Apollo program rockets engines for its first and second stages.
The first stage was an
Extended Long Tank Thor, re-engined with the
Rocketdyne
Rocketdyne was an American rocket engine design and production company headquartered in Canoga Park, California, Canoga Park, in the western San Fernando Valley of suburban Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, in southern California.
The Rocke ...
RS-27 replacing the earlier
MB-3-III engine. The RS-27 engine was a rebranded
H-1 engine used in the
Saturn 1B with minor changes. Three or nine
Castor-2
The Castor family of solid-fuel rocket stages and boosters built by Thiokol (now Northrop Grumman) and used on a variety of launch vehicles. They were initially developed as the second-stage motor of the Scout rocket. The design was based on ...
solid rocket booster
A solid rocket booster (SRB) is a large solid propellant motor used to provide thrust in spacecraft launches from initial launch through the first ascent. Many launch vehicles, including the Atlas V, SLS and space shuttle, have used SRBs to giv ...
s were attached to increase thrust at lift-off. The
Delta-P second stage used the TRW
TR-201 engine. The TR-201 engine was a
Lunar Module Descent Engine
The descent propulsion system (DPS - pronounced 'dips') or lunar module descent engine (LMDE), internal designation VTR-10, is a variable-throttle hypergolic rocket engine invented by Gerard W. Elverum Jr. and developed by Space Technology Labo ...
reconfigured for fixed thrust output. Launches which required a three-stage configuration in order to reach higher orbits used the Thiokol
Star-37D The Star is a family of US solid-propellant rocket motors originally developed by Thiokol and used by many space propulsion and launch vehicle stages. They are used almost exclusively as an upper stage, often as an apogee kick motor.
Three St ...
or
Star-37E upper stage as an apogee kick motor.
Delta 2000 launches occurred from
Space Launch Complex 2W at
Vandenberg AFB and both pads of
Launch Complex 17 at
Cape Canaveral. Forty-three out of forty-four launches were successful. The single failure being the maiden flight, 19 January 1974, which placed
Skynet 2A into a useless orbit. A short circuit in an electronics package circuit board (on second stage) left the upper stages and satellite in an unstable low orbit (96 x 3,406 km x 37.6°) that rapidly decayed. An investigation revealed that a substandard coating had been used on the circuit board.
The cost of each launch was estimated on average at $28.52 million, depending on the combination of carrier rocket.
References
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Delta (rocket family)
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