Thor-Delta

**Thor-Delta**
Launch history
Thor-Delta prior to the launch of Explorer 10
Function	Expendable launch system
Country of origin	United States
Status	Retired
Launch sites	Cape Canaveral LC-17
Total launches	12
Successes	11
First flight	1960-05-13
Last flight	1962-09-18

The Thor-Delta, also known as Delta DM-19 or just Delta was an early American expendable launch system used for 12 orbital launches in the early 1960s. A derivative of the Thor-Able, it was a member of the Thor family of rockets, and the first member of the Delta family.^[1]

The first stage was a Thor missile in the DM-19 configuration. The second stage was the Delta, which had been derived from the earlier Able stage. An Altair solid rocket motor was used as a third stage.^[2]

The Thor-Delta was the first rocket to use the combination of a Thor missile and a Delta upper stage. This configuration was reused for a large number of later rockets, and a derivative, the Delta II, remains in service into 2016.

The Thor-Delta launched a number of significant payloads, including the first communications satellite, Echo 1A; the first British satellite, Ariel 1; and the first active direct-relay communications satellite, Telstar 1. All 12 launches occurred from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 17. The launch of Telstar 1 used pad B, while all other launches were from pad A. All launches were successful except the maiden flight, which failed to place Echo 1 into orbit due a problem with the second stage.

Thor-Delta launches

Main article: List of Thor and Delta launches

No.	Date	Payload	Site	Outcome	Remarks
1	May 13, 1960	Echo 1	CCAFS LC 17A	failure	Launch at 9:16 p.m. GMT. Good first stage. Second-stage attitude control system failure. Vehicle destroyed.
2	August 12, 1960	Echo 1A	CCAFS LC 17A	success	Payload placed into 1,035 miles (1,666 km), 47 degree inclination orbit.
3	November 23, 1960	TIROS-2	CCAFS LC 17A	success
4	March 25, 1961	Explorer-10	CCAFS LC 17A	success	78 pounds (35 kg) payload placed into elliptical 138,000 miles (222,000 km) orbit.
5	July 12, 1961	TIROS-3	CCAFS LC 17A	success
6	August 16, 1961	Explorer-12	CCAFS LC 17A	success	Energetic Particle Explorers. EPE-A.^[3] Highly elliptical orbit.
7	February 8, 1962	TIROS-4	CCAFS LC 17A	success
8	March 7, 1962	OSO-1	CCAFS LC 17A	success	Orbiting Solar Observatory. 345 miles (555 km), 33 degree orbit.
9	April 26, 1962	Ariel 1	CCAFS LC 17A	success	Ariel 1 was later seriously damaged by the Starfish Prime nuclear test.
10	June 19, 1962	TIROS-5	CCAFS LC 17A	success
11	July 10, 1962	Telstar 1	CCAFS LC 17A	success	Also later damaged by the Starfish Prime high altitude nuclear event.
12	September 18, 1962	TIROS-6	CCAFS LC 17A	success

References

↑ Wade, Mark. "Delta". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
↑ Krebs, Gunter. "Thor family". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
↑ "Explorer 12". NASA.

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 2.1a 2.1b 2-1v Unha Vega Zenit 2M 3SL 3SLB 3F

In development	Angara A5P A5V Ariane 6 Athena Ic IIc III Ausroc IV Electron Falcon Heavy Firefly α 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 SPARK Tronador II 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 Full Thrust Minotaur I IV V C Pegasus

In development	Athena Ic IIc III Falcon Heavy SLS SPARK 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 v1.1 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

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, April 15, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.

Thor-Delta

Thor-Delta launches

See also

References