ULA launches classified payloads on Delta IV Heavy rocket

United Launch Alliance successfully launched classified payloads into Geosynchronous Earth orbit on the Delta IV Heavy rocket for the National Reconnaissance Office, U.S. Space Systems Command announced today.

The launch took place early in the morning at 5:10 a.m. EST from Space Launch Complex-37B at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL, according to the announcement.

“We had another successful launch for the NRO today,” said Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, SSC’s Assured Access to Space program executive officer.

“The payload we’ve put into space today adds to the unique capability the NRO provides to keep us safe and out in front of the pacing challenges posed by our nation’s competitors,” he said.

ULA is expecting to launch its last Delta IV Heavy rocket in 2024, the announcement reads.

“By then, the Delta vehicle will have launched the NRO’s heaviest satellites for more than a decade and a half,” SSC said.

Noting the vehicle family's significant contribution, SSC said Delta vehicles had launched payloads including military, government, commercial weather, communications, science satellites, robotic probes for exploration, eight Mars rovers and a telescope.

“With only one Delta IV Heavy launch planned for 2024, the Space Force nears the end of the long and overwhelmingly successful Delta era,” the command added.

ULA’s Vulcan will replace the Delta vehicle next year, which will launch the next generation of national security and commercial satellites into space with innovations, the command noted.