Delta II, Industry Workhorse, Ready for Final Flight
The ICESat-2 spacecraft and ELaNa XVIII payload will be carried into space aboard the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. In use since 1989, the Delta II has a stellar track record: it’s launched 154 times, carrying payloads aloft for NASA, the U.S. military and commercial clients. Today’s launch will be NASA’s 54th on the Delta II; some of the agency’s many flights aboard the Delta II include the Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity; Earth-observing satellites such as Joint Polar Satellite System-1, Aquarius and Suomi NPP; and missions exploring our solar system and beyond, including GRAIL, Dawn and Kepler.
The two-stage Delta II awaiting liftoff this morning at Space Launch Complex-2 stands 132 feet tall. It has four side-mounted solid rocket motors attached to its first stage and is topped by a 10-foot-diameter payload fairing. The first stage’s RS-27A main engine is powered by liquid oxygen and RP-1, a rocket-grade kerosene. The second stage’s AJ10-118K engine is powered by hypergolic propellants Aerozine 50 and nitrogen tetroxide.
