Live updates: Liftoff! ULA Delta IV Heavy rocket launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base
Updat 1:50 p.m.:
We have liftoff.
A column of smoke could be seen across the sky above SLO County shortly after the rocket took off from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
No issues with launch were reported.
Update 1:40 p.m.:
All systems are a go for launch.
Countdown will resume at four minutes to launch.
Update 1:26 p.m.:
A ULA broadcast of the countdown to launch has gone live.
To watch the countdown and rocket launch, check out our story here.
Update 1:22 p.m.:
Launch Weather Officer Lt. Max Rush reports the current conditions are acceptable for liftoff, ULA says.
“Weather is GO,” read the update.
Update 1:20 p.m.:
ULA says no technical issues have yet been discovered that could delay launch.
“We are 30 minutes away for liftoff time for the Delta IV Heavy rocket and NROL-82 for the National Reconnaissance Office,” ULA said in an updated. “Standing by for the final weather briefing.”
Update 1:10 p.m.:
The rocket is still on track to launch at 1:47 p.m., ULA says.
The rocket’s Automatic Determination and Dissemination of Just Updated Steering Terms (AKA the ADDJUST file) is being loaded into the Delta IV Heavy rocket’s Inertial Navigation and Control Assembly (INCA) flight computer by the flight control operator at the Launch Control Center, ULA says.
This is the planned steering parameters for the INCA to use based on today’s upper level wind conditions.
ULA says a series of weather balloons has been launched to collect measurements of wind speeds and directions to determine if conditions aloft violate the controllability or structural loads on the rocket during ascent.
The balloon data was transmitted to ULA engineers in Denver for analysis.
An infographic published by ULA shows that residents in San Luis Obispo County should be able to see the rocket roughly 90 to 120 seconds after it launches.
Update 12:15 p.m.:
The rocket is now expected to launch one minute later, at 1:47 p.m.
The one-minute adjustment is due to a Collision Avoidance (COLA) closure that prohibits liftoff at the opening of the window today, according to ULA.
COLAs are “brief moments in time when the launch is not allowed to occur because the trajectory would pass too close to another object already in space.”
ULA says the analysis is based on “a screening of known active and debris objects in orbit that could cause a conjunction with the ascending rocket and payload.”
Meanwhile, the standard post-fueling inspections of the rocket’s outer thermal insulation is underway using launch pad cameras.
The Delta IV Heavy cryogenic tanks are covered by spray-on and bond-on foam insulation to keep the propellants from warming up too quickly, according to ULA.
Original story:
The launch of the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base “appears to be on schedule” as of Monday morning, according to ULA.
The rocket is expected to lift off from the military base near Lompoc at 1:46 p.m. Monday, carrying a classified payload into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office.
As of 10:50 a.m., ULA said, crews have finished the “fast-fill” loading mode for the common booster cores’ liquid hydrogen tanks, and the post-fueling checks and valve tests were underway before topping commences.
Cloudy and drizzly weather on the Central Coast could still throw a wrench into the launch plans.
According to a ULA news release, the latest forecast predicts a 40% probability of favorable weather at launch time — up from a 30% chance Sunday night.
The primary concerns are surface winds, cumulus and thick clouds and precipitation, according to the release.
ULA warned that the early portion of the launch will likely not be easily visible. If the weather clears, the spacecraft company added, the visibility footprint would include Santa Maria, Lompoc, Buellton, Gaviota and Refugio State Beach.
A launch webcast and live updates from ULA are available via the company’s website, www.ulalaunch.com.
This story was originally published April 26, 2021 at 11:04 AM.
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