Delta N

Not to be confused with N-I (rocket) or N-II (rocket).

**Delta N**
Launch history
Delta N6 prior to the launch of ITOS B
Function	Expendable launch system
Country of origin	United States
Status	Retired
Launch sites	Cape Canaveral LC-17A Vandenberg SLC-2
Total launches	9
Successes	8
Failures	1
First flight	18 September 1968
Last flight	12 March 1972

The Delta N or Thor-Delta N was an American expendable launch system used for nine orbital launches between 1968 and 1972. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets, and the last Delta to be given an alphabetical designation - subsequent rockets were designated using a four digit numerical code.

The Delta N consisted of two stages. The first stage was the Long Tank Thor, a stretched version of the Thor missile, previously flown on the Delta L and Delta M. Three Castor-2 solid rocket boosters were attached to increase thrust at lift-off. A Delta E was used as the second stage. If an increased payload capacity was required, six boosters were flown instead of three, in a configuration known as the Delta N6, or "Super Six". Three launches used the N6 configuration.

Delta N rockets were launched from Launch Complex 17A at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and SLC-2 at Vandenberg AFB. There was one failure, the launch of ITOS E on October 21, 1971. The Delta second stage developed an oxidizer leak about 40 seconds into launch so that when its burn began, the engine quickly lost thrust. In addition, the leaking LOX started pushing the stage off its proper flight path. The guidance system tried to compensate by repeatedly firing the attitude control jets, but this resulted in the rapid exhaustion of their propellant and the launch vehicle started tumbling uncontrollably. The ITOS satellite separated on schedule, but was facing in the wrong direction for orbital insertion, so it simply reentered the atmosphere and burned up. The second stage itself and several pieces of debris did manage to reach orbit and remained there for several weeks.

References

Wade, Mark. "Delta". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
Krebs, Gunter. "Thor family". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2009-02-11.

Orbital launch systems

Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Antares Ariane 5 Atlas V Delta II IV Dnepr-1 Epsilon Falcon 9 full thrust GSLV GSLV Mk III H-IIA H-IIB Kuaizhou Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B 3C 4B 4C 6 11 Minotaur I IV V C Pegasus Proton-M PSLV Rokot Safir Shavit Strela Soyuz U FG 2 2-1v SPARK Unha Vega VLS-1 Zenit 2M 3SL 3SLB 3F

Planned	Angara A3 A5P A5V A7 Ariane 6 Athena Ic IIc III Ausroc IV Falcon Heavy Falcon 9-R FT-1 H3 Haas KZ-11 Long March 5 7 8 9 LauncherOne Mayak Naga-1 Naro-2 OREL RPS (420, 550) Simorgh SLS Southern Cross Soyuz-5 Tronador Tsyklon-4 ULV VLM Vulcan

Retired	Ariane 1 2 3 4 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 III Diamant Energia Europa Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 Feng Bao 1 H-I H-II Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos 1 2I 3 3M Lambda 4S Long March 1 2A 2E 3 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1 N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan Pilot Proton UR-500 K R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz L M U2 Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna Saturn I IB V INT-21 Scout SLV Space Shuttle Sparta Start-1 Thor Able Ablestar Agena Burner Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon 2 3 Vanguard Zenit-2

United States orbital launch systems

Active	Antares Atlas V Delta II IV Falcon 9 v1.1 Minotaur I IV V C Pegasus SPARK

In development	Athena Ic IIc III Falcon 9-R Falcon Heavy SLS Vulcan

Retired	Ares I V Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able Agena Centaur Conestoga Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 III Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 H-I* Juno I Juno II N-I* N-II* Pilot Saturn I IB V INT-21 Scout Shuttle Sparta Thor Able Ablestar Agena Burner Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Vanguard

* - Japanese projects using US rockets or stages

Thor and Delta rockets

Rockets

Thor

Delta

Alphabetical	Delta A Delta B Delta C Delta D Delta E Delta F Delta G Delta J Delta L Delta M Delta N

Numerical	Delta 0100 Delta 1000 Delta 2000 Delta 3000 Delta 4000 Delta 5000 Delta 6000 Delta 7000 Delta 8000 Delta 9000

Modern	Delta II Delta III Delta IV

Export

Launch sites

Canaveral	(S)LC-17 LC-18B SLC-37B

Johnston	LE-1 LE-2

Tanegashima	Osaki

Vandenberg	SLC-1 SLC-2 SLC-3 SLC-6 SLC-10

Bases	Bardney Breighton Caistor Carnaby Catfoss Coleby Grange Driffield Feltwell Folkingham Full Sutton Harrington Hemswell Ludford Magna Melton Mowbray Mepal North Luffenham North Pickenham Polebrook Shepherds Grove Tuddenham

Components

Boosters

First stages

Common Booster Core

Upper Stages

Delta	Delta-A Delta-D Delta-E Delta-F Delta-K Delta-P DCSS

Other	Able Ablestar Agena Altair Burner FW-4D IABS PAM-D Star UM-129

Engines

Manufacturers

Rocket	Douglas McDonnell Douglas Boeing United Launch Alliance

Engines	Aerojet Alliant Rocketdyne Thiokol TRW

Launches

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