Delta IV Heavy: Powerful rocket to take final flight from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

ROCKET IS SET TO LAUNCH ON THURSDAY. IT’S AN EXPLOSIVE LAUNCH SCENE FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS ON THE CAPE. OUR SPACE COAST BUREAU CHIEF, SCOTT HEIDLER EXPLAINS WHY IT’S BEEN A CRITICAL ROCKET FOR NATIONAL DEFENSE AND WHAT’S GOING TO REPLACE IT. THE LAST CHAPTER OF A HEAVY LIFT ROCKET TO BE WRITTEN THIS WEEK AT THE CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION. IT’S VERY BITTERSWEET. I MEAN, IT’S BEEN A PHENOMENAL VEHICLE. IT’S, YOU KNOW, HAD HAD THIS DELTA FOUR HEAVY HAS HAD THIS WILL BE A 16TH LAUNCH. THE LION’S SHARE OF THOSE MISSIONS DEPLOYING NATIONAL SECURITY SATELLITES, BUT ALSO TWO CRITICAL NASA MISSIONS WITH THE FORCE OF THREE BOOSTERS. DELTA FOUR HEAVY LAUNCHES ARE QUITE THE SHOW. PART OF IT’S LIFTOFF AND IN FACT, THAT GIVES THE APPEARANCE THAT THE BOOSTERS ARE ON FIRE. THAT VEHICLE BEHIND US, YOU KNOW, WITH THE GENERATING OVER 2.1 MILLION POUNDS OF THRUST LIFTING OFF THE GROUND, YOU KNOW, TAKING TAKING A PAYLOAD INTO ORBIT, IT’S REALLY IT’S MAJESTIC, LIKE IT’S REALLY PRETTY COOL TO SEE AS SUN SETS ON THE DELTA FOUR HEAVY PROGRAM. DON, FOR ULA’S NEXT GENERATION ROCKET, THE VULCAN. AND OFFICIALS ARE SAYING THAT THE TRANSITION BETWEEN THE OLD GENERATION TO THE NEW GENERATION WILL BE SEAMLESS. VULCAN IS GOING TO STEP RIGHT IN AND REPLACE IT, SO WE’LL GET THIS ONE LAUNCHED HERE ON THE 28TH, AND THEN WE IN MID MID-YEAR, WE’LL BE LAUNCHING ANOTHER VULCAN. SO IT’LL HAVE IT’LL BE EVEN MORE CAPABLE THAN THAN THIS VEHICLE HERE. AND LIFTOFF OF THE FIRST VULCAN LAUNCHED IN JANUARY. IT’S A MUCH MORE SOPHISTICATED VEHICLE WITH NEW ENGINES AND WILL BE REUSABLE. ALL THE THINGS WE’VE LEARNED OVER THE MANY YEARS LAUNCHING THE HERITAGE VEHICLES WE HAVE TODAY, THEY’RE ALL BEING INCORPORATED, ALONG WITH ALL THE NEW TECHNOLOGY TO MAKE THIS AS BIG AND BAD. THE BIG AND BAD VULCAN BUILT ON THE LEGACY OF THE DELTA PROGRAM. WITH THE DELTA FOUR HEAVY LAUNCHING FOR THE VERY LAST TIME, JUST DOWN THE CAPE FROM THE HOME OF ITS REPLACEMENT ON CAPE CANAVERAL, SCOTT HEIDLER WESH TWO NEWS. THE WINDOW FOR THE LAST LAUNCH OF THE DELTA FOUR HEAVY OPEN

The last chapter of United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Heavy rocket will be written this week at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.“It’s very bittersweet. I mean, this has been a phenomenal vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy – this will be its 16t launch,” said Ron Forston, ULA’s Director of Launch Operations.The lion’s share of those missions was to deploy national security satellites, but there were also two critical NASA missions.With the force of three boosters, Delta IV Heavy launches are quite the show, with part of its liftoff giving an effect that makes the appearance that its boosters are on fire.“To see that vehicle behind us generating over 2.1 million pounds of thrust lifting off the ground. Taking a payload into orbit. It’s really majestic-like. It’s pretty cool to see,” Fortson explained.As the sun sets on the Delta IV Heavy program, it’s also dawn for ULA’s net-generation rocket, the Vulcan. ULA officials said that the transition from the old generation to the new generation is expected to be seamless.“Vulcan is going to step right in and replace it. So we’ll get this one launched here on the 2,8th and then mid-year, we will be launching another Vulcan. It’ll be even more capable than this vehicle,” added Fortson.A much more sophisticated vehicle with new engines and ultimately reusable, the Vulcan first launched in January.“All the things we learned over the many years, launching the heritage vehicles today they are all being incorporated along with all the technology to make this, big and bad,” explained Fortson.The ‘big and bad’ Vulcan was built on the legacy of the Delta program, with the Delta IV Heavy launching for the last time just down the Cape from the home of its replacement.The window for the last launch of the Delta IV Heavy opens at 1:40 p.m. on Thursday at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station launch complex 37. Top headlines:$1 million Powerball ticket sold in Central FloridaBaltimore Key Bridge collapse echoes similar tragedy in Florida nearly 44 years agoCrocodile gets police escort while wandering Florida streets early in morning

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. —

The last chapter of United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Heavy rocket will be written this week at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

“It’s very bittersweet. I mean, this has been a phenomenal vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy – this will be its 16t launch,” said Ron Forston, ULA’s Director of Launch Operations.

The lion’s share of those missions was to deploy national security satellites, but there were also two critical NASA missions.

With the force of three boosters, Delta IV Heavy launches are quite the show, with part of its liftoff giving an effect that makes the appearance that its boosters are on fire.

“To see that vehicle behind us generating over 2.1 million pounds of thrust lifting off the ground. Taking a payload into orbit. It’s really majestic-like. It’s pretty cool to see,” Fortson explained.

As the sun sets on the Delta IV Heavy program, it’s also dawn for ULA’s net-generation rocket, the Vulcan. ULA officials said that the transition from the old generation to the new generation is expected to be seamless.

“Vulcan is going to step right in and replace it. So we’ll get this one launched here on the 2,8th and then mid-year, we will be launching another Vulcan. It’ll be even more capable than this vehicle,” added Fortson.

A much more sophisticated vehicle with new engines and ultimately reusable, the Vulcan first launched in January.

“All the things we learned over the many years, launching the heritage vehicles today they are all being incorporated along with all the technology to make this, big and bad,” explained Fortson.

The ‘big and bad’ Vulcan was built on the legacy of the Delta program, with the Delta IV Heavy launching for the last time just down the Cape from the home of its replacement.

The window for the last launch of the Delta IV Heavy opens at 1:40 p.m. on Thursday at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station launch complex 37.

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Delta IV Heavy: Powerful rocket to take final flight from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

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