About the Delta 1 rockets

Delta A

The

Delta A The Delta A, or Thor-Delta A was an American expendable launch system used to launch two Explorer spacecraft in October 1962. A derivative of the Thor-Delta, it was a member of the Delta family of launch vehicles. The Thor-Delta itself was a Th ...

used the MB-3 Block II engine, with of thrust versus for the Block I. 13. 2 October 1962 – Explorer 14 (EPE-B).
14. 27 October 1962 – Explorer 15 (EPE-C).

Delta B

The

Delta B The Delta B, or Thor-Delta B was an American expendable launch system used for nine orbital launches between 1962 and 1964. A derivative of the Thor-Delta, it was a member of the Delta family of rockets. The first stage was a Thor missile in the ...

introduced the upgraded AJ10-118D upper stage, a three-foot propellant tank extension, higher-energy oxidizer, and solid-state guidance system. With the Delta B the Delta program went from "interim" to "operational" status. Delta B could launch to GTO. 15. 13 December 1962.

Relay 1 The Relay program consisted of Relay 1 and Relay 2, two early American satellites in elliptical medium Earth orbit. Both were primarily experimental communications satellites funded by NASA and developed by RCA. As of December 2, 2016, both sate ...

, second NASA communications satellite, the NASA

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a Transponder (satellite communications), transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a Rad ...

first active one.
16. 13 February 1963. Pad 17B. Syncom 1; Thiokol Corporation Star-13B solid rocket as

apogee motor An apogee kick motor (AKM) is a rocket motor that is regularly employed on artificial satellites to provide the final impulse to change the trajectory from the transfer orbit into its final orbit (most commonly circular orbit, circular). For a ...

.
20. 26 July 1963.

Syncom 2 Syncom (for "synchronous communication satellite") started as a 1961 NASA program for active geosynchronous communication satellites, all of which were developed and manufactured by the Space and Communications division of Hughes Aircraft Compa ...

; geosynchronous orbit, but inclined 33.0° due to the limited performance of the Delta rocket.

Delta C

For

Delta C The Delta C, or Thor-Delta C was an American expendable launch system used for thirteen orbital launches between 1963 and 1969. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets. Configuration The first stage was a Thor missile in the DSV-2 ...

, the third stage Altair was replaced with Altair 2. The Altair 2 had been developed as the ABL X-258 for the

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

vehicle and was longer, 10% heavier, and with 65% more total thrust. OSO 4 is an example of a Delta C launch.

Delta D

Delta D The Delta D, Thrust Augmented Delta or Thor-Delta D was an American expendable launch system used to launch two communications satellites in 1964 and 1965. It was derived from the Delta C, and was a member of the Delta (rocket family), Delta fami ...

, also known as Thrust Augmented Delta, was a Delta C with the Thrust Augmented Thor core plus three Castor 1 boosters. 25. 19 August 1964.

Syncom 3 Syncom (for "synchronous communication satellite") started as a 1961 NASA program for active geosynchronous communication satellites, all of which were developed and manufactured by the Space and Communications division of Hughes Aircraft Compa ...

, the first

geostationary A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular geosynchronous orbit in altitud ...

.
30. 6 April 1965.

Intelsat I Intelsat I (nicknamed Early Bird for the proverb "The early bird catches the worm") was the first commercial communications satellite to be placed in geosynchronous orbit, on April 6, 1965. It was built by the Space and Communications Group of ...

Delta E

First

Delta E The Delta E, or Thor-Delta E was an American expendable launch system used for twenty-three orbital launches between 1965 and 1971. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets. The first stage was a Thor missile in the DSV-2C configuration, ...

: 6 November 1965; launched GEOS 1

Delta F

This launch vehicle was not built.

Delta G

The Delta G was a Delta E without the third stage. The two-stage vehicle was used for two launches: Biosatellite 1 on 14 December 1966 and Biosatellite 2 on 7 September 1967.

Delta J

The

Delta J The Delta J or Thor-Delta J was an American expendable launch system of the late 1960s. Only one was launched, with the Explorer 38 spacecraft. It was a member of the Delta (rocket family), Delta family of rockets. The Delta J was derived from th ...

used a larger Thiokol Star 37D motor as the third stage and was launched once on 4 July 1968 with Explorer 38.

Delta K

This launch vehicle was not built.

Delta L

The Delta L introduced the Extended Long Tank first stage with a uniform diameter and used the

United Technologies United Technologies Corporation (UTC) was an American multinational corporation, multinational list of conglomerates, conglomerate headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut. It researched, developed, and manufactured products in numerous are ...

FW-4D motor as a third stage.

Delta M

The

Delta M The Delta M or Thor-Delta M was an American expendable launch system used for thirteen orbital launches between 1968 and 1971. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets. The Delta M had a three-stage configuration. The first stage was the ...

first stage consisted of a Long Tank Thor with MB-3-3 engine augmented with three Castor 2 boosters. The Delta E was the second stage, with a Star 37D ( Burner 2) third stage/apogee kick motor. There were 12 successful Delta M launches from 1968 until 1971.

Delta N

The

Delta N Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

combined a Long Tank Thor (MB-3-3 engine) first stage augmented with three Castor 2 boosters and a Delta E second stage. There were six successful Delta N launches from 1968 until 1972.

"Super Six"

The "Super Six" was a Delta M or Delta N with three additional Castor 2 boosters for a total of six, which was the maximum that could be accommodated. These were respectively designated Delta M6 or Delta N6. The first and only launch of the M6 configuration was Explorer 43 (IMP-H, Magnetospheric research) on 13 March 1971. Three launches of the N6 between 1970 and 1971 resulted in one failure. * to GTO

Delta 0100-series

The

Delta 0100 The Delta 0100 series, also Delta 100, 0300 or 300 series, was an American expendable launch system which conducted orbital launches between 1968 and 1972. It was a member of the Delta (rocket family), Delta family of rockets, and the first to be ...

series was the first stage of the initial numbered Delta was the Long Tank Thor, a version of the

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

missile with extended propellant tanks. Up to nine strap-on

solid rocket booster A solid rocket booster (SRB) is a 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 give laun ...

s (SRBs) could be fitted. With three SRBs, the Delta was designated a 300 series, while the nine SRB variant was designated the 900 series. A new and improved Delta F second stage using the higher-thrust Aerojet AJ 10-118F engine was also introduced. The first 900 series launch was the fourth Delta 0100. On 23 July 1972, Thor-Delta 904 launched Landsat 1. A license-built version of the Long Tank Thor stage with the MB-3 engine was also used for the Japanese N-I launch vehicle.

Delta 1000-series

The

Delta 1000 The Delta 1000 series (also referred to as Straight-Eight) was an American expendable launch system which was used to conduct eight orbital launches between 1972 and 1975. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets. Several variants existed, d ...

series was nicknamed the Straight-Eight and combined an Extended Long Tank first stage with an payload fairing, up to nine Castor 2 SRBs, and the new

McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas Corporation was a major American Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own ...

Delta P second stage using the TRW

TR-201 The TR-201 or TR201 is a hypergolic pressure-fed rocket engine used to propel the upper stage of the Delta (rocket family), Delta rocket, referred to as Delta-P, from 1972 to 1988. The rocket engine uses Aerozine 50 as fuel, and dinitrogen tetrox ...

engine. Payload capacity increased to to LEO or to GTO. The first successful 1000 series Thor-Delta launched Explorer 47 on 22 September 1972. The Extended Long Tank Thor stage was also used in the Japanese

N-II N-II was the former name for the National Route from Madrid to Barcelona and France. According to the new Spanish roads nomenclature, the sections which have been already enhanced and upgraded to ''autovía'' have been recently renamed to A-2, ...

and

H-I The H–I (H–1) was a Japanese medium-lift launch vehicle, consisting of a licence-produced American first stage and set of booster rockets, and all-Japanese upper stages. The H in the name represented the use of liquid hydrogen fuel in the sec ...

launch vehicles.

Delta 2000-series

The

Delta 2000 The Delta 2000 series was an American expendable launch system which was used to conduct forty-four orbital launches between 1974 and 1981. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets, sometimes called Thorad Delta. Several variants existed, ...

introduced the new

Rocketdyne Rocketdyne is 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. Rocketdyne ...

RS-27 The RS-27 (Rocket System-27) was a liquid-propellant rocket engine developed in 1974 by Rocketdyne to replace the aging Rocketdyne S-3D, MB-3 in the Delta. Incorporating components of the venerable MB-3 and the Rocketdyne H-1, H-1 designs, the ...

main engine on an Extended Long Tank first stage with the same constant 8-foot diameter. A Delta 2310 was the vehicle for the first three-satellite launch of NOAA-4, Intasat, and

AMSAT-OSCAR 7 AMSAT-OSCAR 7, or AO-7, is the second Phase 2 amateur radio satellite constructed by the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT). It was launched into Low Earth Orbit on November 15, 1974 and remained operational until a battery failure in 1 ...

on 15 November 1974. Delta 2910 boosters were used to launch both Landsat 2 in 1975 and Landsat 3 in 1978. On 7 April 1978, a Delta 2914 launched " Yuri 1", the first Japanese BSE

Broadcasting Satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. ...

Delta 3000-series

The

Delta 3000 The Delta 3000 series was an American expendable launch system which was used to conduct 38 orbital launches between 1975 and 1989. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets. Several variants existed, which were differentiated by a four ...

combined the same first stage as 1000-series and 2000-series with upgraded Castor 4 solid boosters and was the last Delta series to use the

Delta P second stage with TRW

engine. Delta 3000 introduced the PAM (

Payload Assist Module The Payload Assist Module (PAM) is a modular upper stage designed and built by McDonnell Douglas (Boeing), using Thiokol Star-series solid propellant rocket motors. The PAM was used with the Space Shuttle, Delta, and Titan launchers and carried ...

) / Star 48B solid-fueled kick motor, which was later used as Delta II third stage. The Delta 3914 model was approved for launching United States government payloads in May 1976 and was launched 13 times between 1975 and 1987.

Delta 4000-series

The

Delta 4000 The Delta 4000 series was an American expendable launch system which was used to conduct two orbital launches in 1989 and 1990. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets. Although several variants were put forward, only the Delta 4925 was la ...

-series and 5000-series were developed in the aftermath of the

Challenger disaster On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members aboard. The spacecraft disintegrated above the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 16:3 ...

and consisted of a combination of 3000-era and Delta II-era components. The first stage had the MB-3 main engine and Extended Long Tank of the 3000-series and mounted upgraded Castor 4A motors. The new Delta K second stage was also included. A total of three were launched in 1989 and 1990, carrying two operational payloads.

Delta 5000-series

The

Delta 5000 The Delta 5000 series was an American expendable launch system which was used to conduct an orbital launch in 1989. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets. Although several variants were put forward, only the Delta 5920 was launched. The ...

series featured upgraded Castor 4A motors on an Extended Long Tank first stage with the new

main engine and only launched one mission.

Launch statistics

Launch outcome

Statistics are up-to-date .

Launch history

Orbital debris

At least eight Delta rockets have contributed orbital debris in the Sun-synchronous

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial object ...

environment. The variant of the Delta upper stage that was used in the 1970s was found to be prone to in-orbit explosions. Starting in 1981, depletion burns to get rid of excess propellant became standard, and no Delta Rocket Bodies launched after 1981 experience severe fragmentations afterward, but some of those launched prior to 1981 continued to explode. In 1991, the Delta 1975-052B fragmented, 16 years after launch, demonstrating the resilience of the propellant. In 2017, Delta 1 Rocket Body 1968-114B, using an earlier less fragmentation-prone upper stage, fragmented into 17 pieces, nearly 50 years after launch. Though one possibility is that this rocket body exploded, the signature of the debris cloud is more indicative of a low-energy collision.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Delta 1, list of launches Lists of Delta launches Lists of rocket launches