Spaceflight Now | Delta Launch Report

The Delta 2 rocket
BOEING FACT SHEET
Posted: March 26, 2003

A Boeing Delta 7925-9.5 launches from Cape Canaveral. Photo: Boeing

Boeing will use a Delta 2 7925-9.5 to launch the GPS 2R-8 spacecraft for U.S. Air Force.

Boeing manufactures Delta rockets in Huntington Beach, Calif., with final assembly in Pueblo, Colo. The 7925-9.5 three-stage launch vehicle has five major assemblies: the first stage, including main engine and nine strap-on solid propellant rocket motors; interstage; second stage; third stage and 9.5-foot diameter payload fairing. The Delta 2 is approximately 126 feet tall and eight feet wide.

Manufactured by Rocketdyne, a division of Boeing, the RS-27A main engine operates on liquid oxygen and RP-1 (kerosene). The RS-27A has a sea-level thrust of 200,000 pounds. Each of the Alliant Techsystems solid strap-on motors has a sea-level thrust of 100,270 pounds. The main engine and six of the nine solid rocket motors burn at liftoff, delivering total thrust of 789,420 pounds.

An Aerojet AJ10-118K engine powers the second stage and burns Aerozine-50 fuel and nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer. Ignited at altitude, the engine has a vacuum-rated thrust of 9,815 pounds.

The third stage is Thiokol's Star 48B solid-propellant stage.

Delta 7925
An illustration of the Delta 2 rocket and GPS spacecraft. Credit: Boeing

The Boeing Delta 2 family of expendable launch vehicles was derived from the Delta rockets built and launched since 1960. Delta's origins go back to the Thor intermediate-range ballistic missile, which was developed in the mid-1950s for the U.S. Air Force. The Thor, a single-stage, liquid-fueled rocket, was modified to become the Delta launch vehicle, which later evolved into the Delta 2.

Delta 2 rockets can be configured as two-or three-stage launch vehicles with a varying number of strap-on solid rocket boosters and two sizes of payload fairings, depending on mission requirements.

The Boeing Delta program is headquartered at Boeing Expendable Launch Systems in Huntington Beach, Calif. Manufacturing is located at the Boeing facilities in Pueblo, Colo., and Decatur, Ala.

Flight Data File
Vehicle: Delta 2 (7925-9.5)
Payload: GPS 2R-9
Launch date: March 31, 2003
Launch window: 4:54-5:09 p.m. EST (2154-2209 GMT)
Launch site: SLC-17A, Cape Canaveral, Florida
Satellite broadcast: AMC 2, Transponder 4, C-band

Pre-launch briefing
Mission preview - Our story providing an overview of this launch.

Weather forecast - The latest forecast for launch day conditions.

Launch timeline - Chart with times and descriptions of events to occur during the launch.

Launch hazard area - A map of the restricted area during liftoff.

Ground track - See the trajectory the rocket will follow during its flight.

Global Positioning System - Description of the U.S. Air Force's space-based navigation network.

GPS constellation - Chart shows the current status of the orbiting GPS satellite fleet.

Delta 2 rocket - Overview of the Delta 2 7925-model rocket used to launch GPS satellites.

SLC-17 - The launch complex where Delta rockets fly from Cape Canaveral.

Delta directory - See our coverage of previous Delta rocket flights.

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