WGS-7 – Delta IV-M+ (5,4) – Canaveral SLC-37B – 24.07.2015 00:07 UTC

[che wi]

Eric Reid @emrmobile63 · 23h ago

The WGS-7 Delta 4 Payload Fairing at Decatur Production Ops! ULA is America's Rde to Space.

[Salo]

http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/03/27/delta-4-rocket-evolving-the-upgraded-main-engine/

Delta 4 rocket evolving to upgraded main engine       
Posted on March 27, 2015 by Justin Ray

Credit: Carleton Bailie/Boeing
 
CAPE CANAVERAL — When the next Delta 4 rocket flies in July, as well as all future ones to come, the enhanced RS-68A main engine will power the boosters off the launch pad.
This week's successful Delta 4 launch that put a new GPS satellite into orbit marked the final launch of the original RS-68 model engine.
The Aerojet Rocketdyne-built powerplants have flown 42 times in the RS-68 configuration, all successfully, and three times in the RS-68A version aboard one triple-body Delta 4-Heavy launch in June 2012.
That flight three years ago lofted a classified National Reconnaissance Office payload in the debut launch of the upgraded engine on each of its three booster cores.

Credit: Aerojet Rocketdyne
 
The RS-68A, fed with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, delivers 702,000 pounds of liftoff thrust, an increase of 39,000 pounds over the RS-68 engine. It is considered the world's most-powerful cryogenic engine.
The A-model is seen as an evolution not a revolution from the basic RS-68 engine that has propelled Delta 4 rockets since 2002.
"There are no radical visual differences in either the look of the engine or the manner in which the rocket will fly," an official said in 2012.
The internal turbomachinery has been modified to enable the engine to operate at a higher thrust level — 108.5 instead of 102 percent — to provide extra performance, and improved combustion efficiency to achieve better miles-per-gallon fuel consumption.
The RS-68A satisfied the Heavy Upgrade program to give additional lift capacity for the National Reconnaissance and its NROL-15 mission in 2012.
Now, the engine is being phased into the rest of the Delta 4 fleet starting with the next flight. The extra power enables all various Medium configurations to evolve into a standardize structure instead of being tailor-built for a given launch, substantially streamlining factory operations.
The next flight, targeted for July 21 from Cape Canaveral, will launch the seventh Wideband Global SATCOM spacecraft for the U.S. Air Force.

[Salo]

http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/06/17/launch-campaign-underway-for-next-air-force-delta-4-rocket/

Launch campaign underway for next Air Force Delta 4 rocket       
Posted on June 17, 2015 by Justin Ray

File image of WGS satellite. Credit: ULA
 
CAPE CANAVERAL — With the Delta 4 rocket now waiting on the launch pad, its Air Force Wideband Global SATCOM communications satellite payload has jetted from the Los Angeles factory to the Cape Canaveral in preparation for liftoff this summer.
The Boeing-built WGS 7 spacecraft arrived May 28 at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility runway aboard a military cargo transporter aircraft. It was taken to the commercial Astrotech processing hangar in nearby Titusville to begin testing, fueling and encapsulation.
A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket will boost the satellite into a super-synchronous transfer orbit on July 22 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
The $566 million craft will join a half-dozen other WGS satellites already in orbit 22,300 miles up that provide the backbone communications infrastructure for troops, ships, drones and civilian leaders virtually anywhere on the planet.

Past WGS mission patches. Credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now
 
The Boeing Company is building 10 WGS satellites to relay high-data-rate, large-volume communications such as voice, video conferencing, intelligence files and weather data for the U.S. and allied military forces.
"The WGS constellation provides highly capable military communications that leverages cost-effective production methods and the latest technological advances," said Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, the Air Force's program executive officer for Space. "It takes a lot of hard work by the joint Air Force and contractor team to make this mission a success."
The WGS constellation is augmenting and eventually replacing the aged Defense Satellite Communications System network. A WGS satellite has 10 times the capacity of a DSCS bird.
The sophisticated WGS spacecraft are constructed around Boeing's powerhouse 702HP-model design used by commercial satellite operators. But within the WGS are Ka- and X-band military communications packages.
The Delta 4 rocket for the upcoming WGS 7 launch was rolled out from its Horizontal Integration Facility to the pad at Complex 37 on May 26. It was erected the next day.

File image of Delta 4 on the pad. Credit: ULA
 
The following days saw the four strap-on solid-propellant boosters attached to the first stage and the pre-launch testing procedures get underway. The satellite will be mated to the rocket in early July.
The vehicle will fly in the powerful Medium+(5,4) configuration with a five-meter upper stage and payload fairing and the four solids. ULA rockets have deployed the entire WGS constellation.
Liftoff is planned for July 22 during a window of 8:07 to 8:52 p.m. EDT (0007-0052 GMT).
It will be the 372nd Delta rocket launch since 1960, the 30th Delta 4 rocket since debuting in 2002, the fifth time a Delta has launched a WGS communications satellite, ULA's 98th mission since 2006 and the company's seventh this year.

[che wi]

Air Force communications satellite joined to Delta 4 for July 22 launch
http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/07/09/air-force-satellite-joined-to-delta-4-rocket-for-july-22-launch/

On Wednesday, it was the Wideband Global SATCOM satellite No. 7 being transported to Complex 37 and attached to a Delta 4 rocket for launch July 22. Liftoff is scheduled for 8:07 p.m. EDT.

WGS 7 will be boosted into a super-synchronous transfer orbit more than 36,000 nautical miles high during the launch of the Delta 4 Medium+ (5,4) configured rocket with four strap-on solids.

WGS is the Department of Defense's highest capacity communications satellite system. The satellites provide the needed capacity, coverage and connectivity in support of demanding operational scenarios for the Pentagon and allied forces around the world.

WGS 7 is a Block 2 Follow-On spacecraft built by The Boeing Co. It has the same features as the earlier WGS 5 and WGS 6 satellites, according to the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center.

"The most notable upgrade is that WGS 7 will allow up to 17 percent additional bandwidth," the Air Force said.

The new bird is expected to enter service from geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the equator in December or January. The WGS 7 satellite is valued at $566 million.

Already shrouded in the launcher's 47-foot-tall, 17-foot-diameter composite nose cone, the spacecraft was hauled to the Delta 4 launch pad and hoisted atop the upper stage Wednesday. The fully assembled rocket stands 217 feet tall.

The satellite was flown to Florida at the end of May from Boeing's manufacturing facility in El Segundo, California. After arriving, it was taken to the commercial Astrotech processing facility to undergo pre-flight preps.

Final testing, loading of maneuvering propellant and encapsulation in the rocket's nose cone was accomplished with the satellite.

[che wi]

Delta IV WGS-7 Encapsulated Payload Mate

The Air Force's seventh Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellite, encapsulated inside a 5-meter payload fairing, is mated to a Delta IV rocket at Space Launch Complex-37.

[Salo]

http://www.ulalaunch.com/delta-iv-to-launch-wgs7.aspx?title=Delta+IV+to+launch+WGS-7&Category=2

Delta IV to launch WGS-7


Mission Overview
http://www.ulalaunch.com/uploads/docs/Mission_Booklets/DIV/div_wgs7_mob.pdf

Rocket/Payload: A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Medium+ (5,4) configuration will launch the seventh Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS-7) mission for the U.S. Air Force.

Date/Site/Launch Time: Wednesday, July 22, 2015, from Space Launch Complex-37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The 45-minute launch window opens at 8:07 p.m. EDT.

Webcast: The live broadcast will begin at 7:47 p.m. EDT.

Mission Description: WGS satellites are important elements of a new high-capacity satellite communications system providing enhanced communications capabilities to America's troops in the field for the next decade and beyond. WGS enables more robust and flexible execution of Command and Control, Communications Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR), as well as battle management and combat support information functions. The WGS constellation augments the existing service available through the UHF Follow-on satellite by providing enhanced information broadcast capabilities.

Launch Notes: WGS-7 will be the 30th Delta IV mission since the vehicle's inaugural flight in 2002. This is the fifth flight in the Medium+ (5,4) configuration, and all launches in this configuration were WGS missions.

Launch Updates: To keep up to speed with updates to the launch countdown, dial the ULA launch hotline at 1-877-852-4321 or join the conversation at facebook.com/ulalaunch, twitter.com/ulalaunch or instagram.com/ulalaunch; hashtags #WGS7 and #DeltaIV.

Go Delta! Go WGS-7!

[Salo]

Пуск 23 июля. Стартовое окно 03:07-03:52 ДМВ.

[che wi]

Патчики

[silentpom]

уже RS-68A или RS-68?

[DAP]

silentpom пишет:
уже RS-68A или RS-68?

http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/07/19/preview-enhanced-rocket-engine-to-power-delta-4-first-stage/

Пишут, что на этот и все последующие запуски вне зависимости от типа Heavy или нет, и конфигурации (есть или нет ускорители, и сколько) для целей унификации и снижения стоимости будет только RS-68A.

[Space Alien]

Spaceflight Now ‏@SpaceflightNow
SCRUB. Today's Delta 4 launch has been scrubbed due to stormy weather forecast

[Salo]

http://www.ulalaunch.com/delta-iv-to-launch-wgs7.aspx?title=Delta+IV+to+launch+WGS-7&Category=2

The launch is rescheduled for Thursday, July 23, from Space Launch Complex-37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The launch time is 8:07 p.m. EDT at the opening of a 40-minute window. The forecast for shows a 60 percent chance of favorable weather conditions for the launch.
 

[Salo]

Т.е. пуск 24 июля в 03:07-03:47 ДМВ.

[che wi]

James Dean ‏@flatoday_jdean  27m ago

Tower has rolled back to reveal #Delta IV for 8:07pm liftoff from Cape with #WGS-7.

[che wi]

[bavv]

@cbphoto1 7 минут назад
 The rain is gone. Cameras are set. Time for a launch #AtlasIV #WGS @ulalaunch @Florida_Today @flatoday_jdean
 

@BoeingDefense 4 минуты назад
 NOW: #Boeing-built #WGS7 #satellite launch webcast - http://bit.ly/div_wgs7 

@S101_Live 5 минут назад
 Delta IV will need 42 minutes to deliver #WGS7 to its planned Supersynchronous Transfer Orbit: http://bit.ly/1DnMkQZ 
 

[bavv]

Orbital ATK ‏@OrbitalATK 36 секунд назад Florida, USA
 Launch team has given the GO to launch! #WGS7 #DeltaIV

[che wi]

Пошла.

[bavv]

Улетела.

[che wi]