The final half-decade of launches in the Thor/Delta family consisted of one Delta IV Heavy each year from 2020 through 2024. This followed the retirement of Delta II in 2018 and single-stick (non-Heavy) variants of the Delta IV in 2019. With the start of 2024, Vulcan Centaur took its first flight in time to maintain continuity of ULA's service in the heavy-lift launch vehicle market before the Delta IV Heavy program came to an end three months later on April 9, 2024.
List of Thor and Delta launches |
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1957–1959 · 1960–1969 · 1970–1979 · 1980–1989 · 1990–1999 · 2000–2009 · 2010–2019 · 2020–2024 |
2020 | ||||||||
Flight No. | Date / time ( UTC) | Rocket, Configuration |
Launch site | Payload | Payload mass | Orbit | Customer | Launch outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
385 | 11 December 2020 01:09 |
Delta IV Heavy | CCSFS, SLC-37B | USA-311 ( NROL-44) | Classified | GSO | US NRO | Success [1] |
Reconnaissance satellite, likely an Orion satellite. [2] Launch attempts on 29 August and 30 September were aborted due to problems with the Ground Service Equipment (GSE). [3] [4] The rocket finally lifted off on 11 December. | ||||||||
2021 | ||||||||
Flight No. | Date / time ( UTC) | Rocket, Configuration |
Launch site | Payload | Payload mass | Orbit | Customer | Launch outcome |
386 | 26 April 2021 20:47 |
Delta IV Heavy | VAFB, SLC-6 | USA-314 ( NROL-82) | Classified | LEO | US NRO | Success [5] |
Reconnaissance satellite, likely a KH-11 Kennen satellite. [2] | ||||||||
2022 | ||||||||
Flight No. | Date / time ( UTC) | Rocket, Configuration |
Launch site | Payload | Payload mass | Orbit | Customer | Launch outcome |
387 | 24 September 2022 22:25:30 |
Delta IV Heavy | VAFB, SLC-6 | NROL-91 | Classified | LEO | US NRO | Success [6] |
Reconnaissance satellite, likely a KH-11 Kennen satellite. [2] Final Delta flight from Vandenberg. | ||||||||
2023 | ||||||||
Flight No. | Date / time ( UTC) | Rocket, Configuration |
Launch site | Payload | Payload mass | Orbit | Customer | Launch outcome |
388 | 22 June 2023 09:18 |
Delta IV Heavy | CCSFS, SLC-37B | NROL-68 | Classified | GEO | US NRO | Success [7] |
Reconnaissance satellite, likely an Orion satellite. [2] | ||||||||
2024 | ||||||||
Flight No. | Date / time ( UTC) | Rocket, Configuration |
Launch site | Payload | Payload mass | Orbit | Customer | Launch outcome |
389 | 9 April 2024 16:53 [8] |
Delta IV Heavy | CCSFS, SLC-37B | NROL-70 | Classified | GEO | US NRO | Success |
Reconnaissance satellite, likely an Orion satellite. [2] Final flight of the Delta rocket family. |