Delta C
American expendable launch vehicle
The Delta C, or Thor-Delta C was an American expendable launch system used for thirteen orbital launches between 1963 and 1969. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets.
01Configuration
The first stage was a Thor missile in the DSV-2A (MB-3-II) configuration, and the second stage was the Delta D (AJ-10-118D), which was derived from the earlier Delta. The baseline Delta C used an Altair-2 (X-258) third stage, whilst the Delta C1 had an FW-4D third stage, which provided a higher payload capacity than the Altair. It is unclear whether two or three launches were made using the C1 configuration.
02Launches
The Delta C was launched from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 17. Most launches carried NASA research satellites into low Earth orbit.
| Variant | S/N | Date | Launch site | Payload | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta C | 387/D-21 | 27.11.1963 | CC LC-17B | Explorer 18 (IMP A) | Success |
| Delta C | 392/D-26 | 04.10.1964 | CC LC-17A | Explorer 21 (IMP B) | Success |
| Delta C | 393/D-27 | 21.12.1964 | CC LC-17A | Explorer 26 (EPE D) | Success |
| Delta C | 374/D-28 | 22.01.1965 | CC LC-17A | TIROS 9 | Success |
| Delta C | 411/D-29 | 03.02.1965 | CC LC-17B | OSO 2 | Success |
| Delta C | 441/D-31 | 29.05.1965 | CC LC-17B | Explorer 28 (IMP C) | Success |
| Delta C | 415/D-32 | 02.07.1965 | CC LC-17B | TIROS 10 | Success |
| Delta C | 434/D-33 | 25.08.1965 | CC LC-17B | OSO C | Failure |
| Delta C | 445/D-36 | 03.02.1966 | CC LC-17A | ESSA 1 | Success |
| Delta C | 431/D-46 | 08.03.1967 | CC LC-17A | OSO 3 | Success |
| Delta C | 490/D-53 | 18.10.1967 | CC LC-17B | OSO 4 | Success |
| Delta C1 | 436/D-38 | 25.05.1966 | CC LC-17B | Explorer 32 (AE B) | Success |
| Delta C1 | 487/D-64 | 22.01.1969 | CC LC-17B | OSO 5 | Success |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Delta C”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Thor Delta C with Explorer 18 (Nov. 27 1963).jpg by NASA, Public domain
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