Decatur-built ULA rocket to boost DoD satellite

Few places in the United States are more synonymous with space and rocketry than Florida’s Cape Canaveral. The cape has been the site of various launches since 1958, when NASA was officially formed.

United Launch Alliance (ULA), one of the nation’s most experienced and successful launch service providers, is set to launch its Delta IV Heavy rocket Wednesday. The Decatur-built rocket will transport a satellite into space that has been designed to enhance America’s national security.

ULA’s facility in Decatur plays a role in the company’s manufacturing, assembly, and integration operations.

Craig Langford, ULA’s vice president of production operations, discussed the company’s Decatur operations.

“As the nation’s rocket company, United Launch Alliance is proud to have a major presence in Decatur, Alabama,” said Langford. “Our choice of Decatur for our production facilities has helped ULA meet and exceed our commitments to our customers, including NASA and the Department of Defense.

“Decatur also is an ideal location logistically, with great access to waterways that provide us the ability to deliver our rockets via the Mariner to Cape Canaveral in Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.”

#NROL68 is launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 3:29 a.m. EDT June 21. ?

This is the second to last @ulalaunch #DeltaIVHeavy ever! Check out this map to see if it’s launching overhead near you. https://t.co/sa2e4cjcmD

— NRO (@NatReconOfc) June 19, 2023

Mission details:

• The NROL-68 mission marks ULA’s 33rd launch in partnership with the NRO, beginning
  with ULA’s first launch in 2006.
• NROL-68 will be the NRO’s 11th launch aboard ULA’s Delta IV Heavy rocket, which is
  the nation’s proven heavy lifter, delivering high-priority missions for the U.S.
  Space Force, National Reconnaissance Office and NASA.
• This mission marks the 15th and penultimate launch of a Delta IV Heavy rocket. The
  final Delta IV Heavy will launch in 2024 as ULA transitions its missions from
  the East and West coasts to the next generation Vulcan rocket.
• NROL-68 will be ULA’s 97th national security space mission.

The triple-core Delta IV Heavy rocket is the only operational rocket in the world that has all the necessary attributes to meet the stringent requirements to perform the NROL-68 mission.

Austen Shipley is a staff writer Yellowhammer News.