List of Delta IV Heavy launches

Last updated August 21, 2025

The Delta IV Heavy (Delta 9250H) was an expendable heavy-lift launch vehicle. When it was in service from 2004 to 2024, it was the largest type in the Delta IV family and was the world's second highest-capacity rocket in operation, behind SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket and closely followed by CNSA's Long March 5 rocket.^[1]^[2] It was manufactured by United Launch Alliance and was first launched in December 2004 and was retired after its last flight on April 9, 2024.^[3]

Launch statistics

It had 11 launches from Florida, and 5 from Vandenberg, California.

1

2004

2010

2015

2020

2024

Partial Failure
Success

Launch history


Flight	Date	Payload ^[4]	Mass	Launch site	Outcome ^[4]
1	December 21, 2004	DemoSat, Sparkie / 3CS-1 and Ralphie / 3CS-2	≈6,000 kg (13,000 lb)	Cape Canaveral, SLC-37B	Partial failure^[a]
2	November 11, 2007	DSP-23	5,250 kg (11,570 lb)	Cape Canaveral, SLC-37B	Success
3	January 18, 2009	Orion 6 / Mentor 4 (USA-202 / NROL-26)	Classified	Cape Canaveral, SLC-37B	Success
4	November 21, 2010	Orion 7 / Mentor 5 (USA-223 / NROL-32)	Classified	Cape Canaveral, SLC-37B	Success
5	January 20, 2011	KH-11 Kennen 15 (USA-224 / NROL-49)	<17,000 kg (37,000 lb)	Vandenberg, SLC-6	Success
6	June 29, 2012	Orion 8 / Mentor 6 (USA-237 / NROL-15)	Classified	Cape Canaveral, SLC-37B	Success
7	August 26, 2013	KH-11 Kennen 16 (USA-245 / NROL-65)	<17,000 kg (37,000 lb)	Vandenberg, SLC-6	Success
8	December 5, 2014	Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1)	21,000 kg (46,000 lb)^[5]^[b]	Cape Canaveral, SLC-37B	Success
9	June 11, 2016	Orion 9 / Mentor 7 (USA-268 / NROL-37)	Classified	Cape Canaveral, SLC-37B	Success
10	August 12, 2018	Parker Solar Probe ^[c]	685 kg (1,510 lb)	Cape Canaveral, SLC-37B	Success
11	January 19, 2019	NROL-71	Classified	Vandenberg, SLC-6	Success
12	December 11, 2020	Orion 10 / Mentor 8 (USA-268/ NROL-44)^[6]^[7]	Classified	Cape Canaveral, SLC-37B	Success
13	April 26, 2021	KH-11 Kennen 17 (NROL-82)	Classified	Vandenberg, SLC-6	Success
14	September 24, 2022	KH-11 Kennen 18 (NROL-91)	Classified	Vandenberg, SLC-6	Success
15	June 22, 2023	Orion 11 / Mentor 9 (NROL-68)^[8]	Classified	Cape Canaveral, SLC-37B	Success
16	April 9, 2024	Orion 12 / Mentor 10 (NROL-70)^[9]	Classified	Cape Canaveral, SLC-37B	Success

Notes

↑ Common Booster Cores underperformed, lower orbit than planned
↑ The officially reported mass of 21,000 kg includes the Launch Abort System (LAS) which did not reach orbit, but excludes the residual mass of the upper stage, which did reach orbit.
↑ plus Star 48BV upper stage (approx 2,100 kg)

References

↑ "Mission Status Center". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved July 26, 2014. The ULA Delta 4-Heavy is currently the world's largest rocket, providing the nation with reliable, proven, heavy lift capability for our country's national security payloads from both the east and west coasts.
↑ Chang, Kenneth (February 6, 2018). "Falcon Heavy, SpaceX's Big New Rocket, Succeeds in Its First Test Launch". The New York Times. Retrieved February 6, 2018. The Falcon Heavy is capable of lifting 140,000 pounds to low-Earth orbit, more than any other rocket today.
↑ "Boeing Delta IV Heavy Achieves Major Test Objectives in First Flight". Boeing . December 21, 2004. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
1 2 Krebs, Gunter. "Delta-4". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
↑ "NASA Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 PRESS KIT" (PDF). NASA. December 2014. p. 12. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
↑ "Launch Schedule". Spaceflight Now. October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
↑ "Launch Mission Execution Forecast". 45th Weather Squadron - Patrick Air Force Base. October 30, 2020. Retrieved October 31, 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
↑ Clark, Stephen (June 22, 2023). "Delta 4-Heavy rocket lifts off with NRO spy satellite". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
↑ Graham, William (April 9, 2024). "Delta IV Heavy launches on final mission". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved September 28, 2024.

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[5] Common Booster Cores underperformed, lower orbit than planned

[Orion_EFT-1-7] The officially reported mass of 21,000 kg includes the Launch Abort System (LAS) which did not reach orbit, but excludes the residual mass of the upper stage, which did reach orbit.

[8] us Star 48BV upper stage (approx 2,100 kg)

[1] "Mission Status Center". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved July 26, 2014. The ULA Delta 4-Heavy is currently the world's largest rocket, providing the nation with reliable, proven, heavy lift capability for our country's national security payloads from both the east and west coasts.

[2] Chang, Kenneth (February 6, 2018). "Falcon Heavy, SpaceX's Big New Rocket, Succeeds in Its First Test Launch". The New York Times. Retrieved February 6, 2018. The Falcon Heavy is capable of lifting 140,000 pounds to low-Earth orbit, more than any other rocket today.

[3] "Boeing Delta IV Heavy Achieves Major Test Objectives in First Flight". Boeing . December 21, 2004. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2012.

[Gunter's_Space_Page-4] 1 2 Krebs, Gunter. "Delta-4". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved March 15, 2018.

[EFT1_press_kit-6] "NASA Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 PRESS KIT" (PDF). NASA. December 2014. p. 12. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .

[SFN20201027-9] "Launch Schedule". Spaceflight Now. October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 31, 2020.

[45th_Weather_Squadron-10] "Launch Mission Execution Forecast". 45th Weather Squadron - Patrick Air Force Base. October 30, 2020. Retrieved October 31, 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .

[sfn-20230622-11] Clark, Stephen (June 22, 2023). "Delta 4-Heavy rocket lifts off with NRO spy satellite". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved June 27, 2023.

[12] Graham, William (April 9, 2024). "Delta IV Heavy launches on final mission". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved September 28, 2024.

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v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Ariane 6 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S Chollima-1 Electron Eris ^† Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H3 Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 KAIROS ^† Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 6C 7 7A 8 11 11H 12 LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C New Glenn Nuri OS-M1 ^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB Spectrum ^† SSLV Starship Tianlong-2 Unha Vega C Vulcan Centaur Zhuque 2
In development	Antares 330 Bloostar Blue Whale 1 Cyclone-4M Deca Eclipse Epsilon S Gravity-2 HANBIT-NANO Hyperbola-2 Irtysh KSLV-III Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 Miura 5 Neutron New Line 1 NGLV Nova OS-M 2 4 Orbex Prime Pallas-1 Red Dwarf RFA One SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R Tianlong-3 VLM Vega E Zero Zhuque 3 Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130 ^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 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 II III IV IV Heavy Diamant Dnepr Energia Epsilon Europa I ^† II ^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIA H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne Long March 1 1D ^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1 ^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan ^† Pilot-2 ^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 2-1v Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna ^† Rocket 3 RS1 ^† Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II ^† X-2 ^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B ^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK ^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1 ^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard Vega original VLS-1 ^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 1 ^†
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)

v t e Orbital launch systems developed in the United States
Active	Atlas V**^†† Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Minotaur I IV V C New Glenn Pegasus XL SLS Block 1 Vulcan Centaur
In development	Antares 330 Daytona I Eclipse Neutron Nova Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Starship Terran R
Retired	Antares 110/120/130/230/230+^††† 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 II III IV IV Heavy Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" H-I* Juno I Juno II LauncherOne N-I* N-II* Pilot Rocket 3 RS1 ^† Saturn I IB V Scout Space Shuttle SPARK Sparta Terran 1 ^† 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 ** - uses Russian engines ^† - never succeeded ^†† - no new orders accepted and production stopped ^††† - used Ukrainian first stage

List of Delta IV Heavy launches

Contents

Launch statistics

Launch history

Notes

References