Cosmic Penguin
Geek Penguin in GTO
It's big. It's black. It's mysterious. And it's probably very expensive.
It's so big that it exceeds the performance brought by the original Delta IV Heavy, itself one of the rockets with the largest performance that was brought into regular service. The NRO decided several years ago to fund an upgrade to the Delta IV's RS-68 first stage engine, the RS-68A, specifically for this very payload. The RS-68A provides a 6% increase in thrust and at least a 2% increase in specific impulse, which should increase the capacity by about 10% (to the original performance milestone set in the late 1990's). Whatever the payload is, it must be demanding very high performance.
It's so black that even the mission logo features the symbol of the black side of the world, the black cat... :rofl:
...and the launch patch refers to Norse mythology...
It's so mysterious that satellite observers around the world are scratching their heads for the identity of the payload, which ranges from a stealth optical telescope pointing down at Earth to a very large electronic signals intelligence satellite (the latter now a bit more likely). The only hint they have are the air and marine space closure notices, which shows the rocket heading east (so it's probably heading for GSO).
And the NRO launch number shows that it might have been on the plans for a long time (possibly a decade or even more), which might held a glimpse of how expensive it is.
Whatever that thing is, it is scheduled to launch in just a few days from now (weather conditions notwithstanding), and providing a great light show a dozen minutes before sunrise.
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This is the fifth operational flight of the Delta IV Heavy rocket and the first Delta IV rocket to feature the uprated RS-68A engine. A successful demonstration flight was flown on Dec. 21, 2004. The first operational mission was flown Nov. 10, 2007, the second operational flight was flown Jan. 17, 2009, and the third on Nov. 21, 2010. The third operational flight, the first one from Vandenberg AFB in California, was flown on Jan. 20, 2011.
Viewing the Launch Live:
It's so big that it exceeds the performance brought by the original Delta IV Heavy, itself one of the rockets with the largest performance that was brought into regular service. The NRO decided several years ago to fund an upgrade to the Delta IV's RS-68 first stage engine, the RS-68A, specifically for this very payload. The RS-68A provides a 6% increase in thrust and at least a 2% increase in specific impulse, which should increase the capacity by about 10% (to the original performance milestone set in the late 1990's). Whatever the payload is, it must be demanding very high performance.
It's so black that even the mission logo features the symbol of the black side of the world, the black cat... :rofl:
...and the launch patch refers to Norse mythology...
It's so mysterious that satellite observers around the world are scratching their heads for the identity of the payload, which ranges from a stealth optical telescope pointing down at Earth to a very large electronic signals intelligence satellite (the latter now a bit more likely). The only hint they have are the air and marine space closure notices, which shows the rocket heading east (so it's probably heading for GSO).
And the NRO launch number shows that it might have been on the plans for a long time (possibly a decade or even more), which might held a glimpse of how expensive it is.
Whatever that thing is, it is scheduled to launch in just a few days from now (weather conditions notwithstanding), and providing a great light show a dozen minutes before sunrise.
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Launch date:
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June 29, 2012
Launch time:
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10:13 UTC / 6:13 a.m. EDT / 3:13 a.m. PDT
Launch site:
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SLC-37B, Cape Canaveral AFB, Florida
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[highlight]L[eventtimer]2012-6-29 10:13:00;%c%%ddd%/%hh%:%mm%:%ss%[/eventtimer][/highlight]
This is the fifth operational flight of the Delta IV Heavy rocket and the first Delta IV rocket to feature the uprated RS-68A engine. A successful demonstration flight was flown on Dec. 21, 2004. The first operational mission was flown Nov. 10, 2007, the second operational flight was flown Jan. 17, 2009, and the third on Nov. 21, 2010. The third operational flight, the first one from Vandenberg AFB in California, was flown on Jan. 20, 2011.
Viewing the Launch Live:
on the ULA Web site.
There is an O-F Calendar event created for this launch. And here you can request a reminder for it.
Mission Description:
Launch Vehicle:
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Launch preparations photos:
Links:
Launch Updates:
- Direct Windows Media stream
- Flash Player Webcast - standard quality
- Flash Player Webcast - low quality (for mobile devices)
There is an O-F Calendar event created for this launch. And here you can request a reminder for it.
Mission Description:
This launch supports the military's national defense mission. The payload is confidential and is designated as National Reconnaissance Office L-15 (NROL-15). The flow of official information about this mission will cease at the point of payload fairing separation. No further comment about the status of the mission will be made after this milestone.
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Mission Insignia (clickable)
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Launch Vehicle:
Delta IV Heavy is comprised of a common booster core (CBC), two additional CBCs as strap-on liquid rocket boosters (LRBs) to augment the first-stage CBC, a cryogenic upper stage, and 5-m-diameter payload fairing (PLF).
The Delta 4 CBC design is optimized for balanced performance over a wide range of payloads using the high-performance RS-68 main engine powered by liquid hydrogen (LH2) and liquid oxygen (LO2). The RS-68 is throttleable to serve various mission profiles operating at 102% and 58% thrust level. Two separate 5-m-dia. LO2 and LH2 tanks provide the majority of the first stage structure. These two tanks are integrated wih a composite cylinder, called the centerbody. At the forward end of the CBC, another composite cylinder, the interstage, provides the interface between the CBC and the cryogenic second stage. For the port and starboard strap-on CBCs of the Heavy configuration the interstage structure is replaced with a composite nose cone.
At the aft end of the CBC, an engine section provides the thrust structure and thermal shield that integrates the RS-68 main engine to the CBC. The RS-68 requirements were balanced to enable operational thrust at lower chamber pressures. This design trade increase engine reliability, while reducing complexity. Compared with the SSME, the RS-68 has an 80% reduction in unique part count. Even with lower performance than comparable LO2/LH2 engines, the RS-68 develops a world record 2949 kN (663000 lb) of sea-level thrust with a specific impulse (Isp) of 359 seconds at sea level.
The second stage comprises a 5-m-diameter fuel tank, a composite intertank structure, a liquid oxygen tank, avionics equipment shelf, avionics suite, attitude control system and is powered by a Pratt & Whitney RL10B-2 liquid rocket engine that produces 100kN (24750 lb.) of thrust. The RL10B-2, with its high expansion, carbon-carbon nozzle provides an Isp of 465.5 seconds.
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Launch preparations photos:
- Payload hoisted atop Delta for NROL-15 (PHOTO GALLERY)
Links:
- United Launch Alliance: NROL-15 page
Launch Updates:
- Spaceflight Now's Mission Status Center
- United Launch Alliance Twitter
- ULA launch hotline - dial at: 1-877-852-4321
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Launch Mission Execution Forecast
