Delta II was an expendable launch system,originally designed and built by McDonnell Douglas. Delta II was part of the Delta rocket family and entered service in 1989. Delta II vehicles included the Delta 6000,and the two later Delta 7000 variants. The rocket flew its final mission ICESat-2 on 15 September 2018,earning the launch vehicle a streak of 100 successful missions in a row,with the last failure being GPS IIR-1 in 1997.
Delta is an American versatile family of expendable launch systems that has provided space launch capability in the United States since 1960. Japan also launched license-built derivatives from 1975 to 1992. More than 300 Delta rockets have been launched with a 95% success rate. Only the Delta IV Heavy rocket remains in use as of November 2020. Delta rockets are currently manufactured and launched by the United Launch Alliance.
The Delta G,or Thor-Delta G was an American expendable launch system used to launch two biological research satellites in 1966 and 1967. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets.
The Castor family of solid-fuel rocket stages and boosters built by Thiokol and used on a variety of launch vehicles. They were initially developed as the second-stage motor of the Scout rocket. The design was based on the MGM-29 Sergeant,a surface-to-surface missile developed for the United States Army at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Thor was a US space launch vehicle derived from the PGM-17 Thor intermediate-range ballistic missile. The Thor rocket was the first member of the Delta rocket family of space launch vehicles. The last launch of a direct derivative of the Thor missile occurred in 2018 as the first stage of the final Delta II.
The Thorad-Agena was an American expendable launch system,derived from the Thor and Delta rockets. The first stage of the rocket was a stretched Thor variant named "Long Tank Thrust Augmented Thor". The Long Tank Thor first stage was later adopted by NASA's Delta program for its "Thrust Augmented Improved Delta",which first flew in 1968. The second stage was the Agena-D,which had already been used in conjunction with the standard configuration Thor,as the Thor-Agena. Three Castor rockets would be used as boosters. Most launches carried Corona (KeyHole) reconnaissance satellites,particularly spacecraft of the KH-4 series,however some scientific and technology development satellites were also flown,mostly towards the end of the program.
The Delta E,or Thor-Delta E was an American expendable launch system used for twenty-three orbital launches between 1965 and 1971. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets.
The H–I or H–1 was a Japanese liquid-fuelled carrier rocket,consisting of a licence-produced American first stage and set of booster rockets,and all-Japanese upper stages. The H in the name represented the use of liquid hydrogen fuel in the second stage. It was launched nine times between 1986 and 1992. It replaced the N-II,and was subsequently replaced by the H-II,which used the same upper stages with a Japanese first stage.
The N-II or N-2 was a derivative of the American Delta rocket,produced under licence in Japan. It replaced the N-I-rocket in Japanese use. It used a Thor-ELT first stage,a Delta-F second stage,nine Castor SRMs,and on most flights either a Star-37E or Burner-2 upper stage,identical to the US Delta 0100 series configurations. Eight were launched between 1981 and 1987,before it was replaced by the H-I,which featured Japanese-produced upper stages. All eight launches were successful.
The Delta D,Thrust Augmented Delta or Thor-Delta D was an American expendable launch system used to launch two communications satellites in 1964 and 1965. It was derived from the Delta C,and was a member of the Delta family of rockets.
The Delta J,or Thor-Delta J was an American expendable launch system of the late 1960s. Only one was launched,with the Explorer 38 spacecraft. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets.
The Delta L,Thor-Delta L,or Thrust-Augmented Long Tank Thor-Delta was a US expendable launch system used to launch the Pioneer E and TETR satellites in 1969 (failed) and HEOS satellite in 1972. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets.
The Delta M or Thor-Delta M was an American expendable launch system used for thirteen orbital launches between 1968 and 1971. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets.
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 0100 series,also Delta 100,0300 or 300 series,was an American expendable launch system which conducted orbital launches between 1968 and 1972. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets,and the first to be designated using a four digit numerical code. Two variants were flown,individually designated Delta 0300 and Delta 0900.
The Delta 1000 series was an American expendable launch system which was used to conduct eight orbital launches between 1972 and 1975. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets. Several variants existed,differentiated by a four digit numerical code. Delta 1000 was developed by McDonnell Douglas company in 1972.
The Delta 2000 series was an American expendable launch system which was used to conduct forty-four orbital launches between 1974 and 1981. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets. Several variants existed,which were differentiated by a four digit numerical code. The Delta 1000,2000 and 3000 series used surplus NASA Apollo program rockets engines for its first and second stages.
The Delta 3000 series was an American expendable launch system which was used to conduct 38 orbital launches between 1975 and 1989. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets. Several variants existed,which were differentiated by a four digit numerical code.
The Delta 5000 series was an American expendable launch system which was used to conduct an orbital launch in 1989. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets. Although several variants were put forward,only the Delta 5920 was launched. The designation used a four digit numerical code to store information on the configuration of the rocket. It was built from a combination of spare parts left over from earlier Delta rockets,which were being retired,and parts from the Delta II 6000-series,which was just entering service.
