Family-level launch record combining canonical variants, historical missions, public cadence forecasts, and available payload performance specs.
Historical missions are grouped by actual launch year. Forecast cadence uses family-level launch-rate rows.
| Year | Historical missions | Forecast launches |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 1 | 0 |
| 2018 | 2 | 0 |
| 2019 | 3 | 0 |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 |
Payload capacity by variant and target orbit when structured capacity rows are available.
| Variant | Orbit | Capacity | Altitude | Inclination | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No performance specsNo structured payload capacity rows are linked to this vehicle family. | |||||
Latest launched missions using variants in this family.
| Mission | Variant | Launch |
|---|---|---|
| USA 353 Mission | Delta 4H B | Apr 9, 2024 |
| USA 345 Mission | Delta 4H B | Jun 22, 2023 |
| USA 338 Mission | Delta 4H B | Sep 24, 2022 |
| USA 314 Mission |
Canonical variants rolled up into this launch vehicle family.
| Variant | Stages | Missions | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
Delta 4H | Not stated | 8 | Retired |
Delta 4H A | Not stated | 5 | Retired |
Delta 4H B | Not stated | 3 | Retired |
Delta 4M | Not stated | 3 | Retired |
Delta 4H A |
| Apr 26, 2021 |
| USA 311 Mission | Delta 4H A | Dec 11, 2020 |
| GPS III SV02 Mission | Delta 4M+(4,2) A | Aug 22, 2019 |
| WGS 10 | Delta 4M+(5,4) A | Mar 16, 2019 |
| USA 290 Mission | Delta 4H A | Jan 19, 2019 |
Upcoming mission rows with announced launch timing.
| Mission | Variant | Announced |
|---|---|---|
No forecasted missionsNo upcoming announced mission rows are linked to this vehicle family. | ||
Delta 4M+(4,2) | Not stated | 13 | Retired |
Delta 4M+(4,2) A | Not stated | 2 | Retired |
Delta 4M+(5,2) | Not stated | 1 | Retired |
Delta 4M+(5,2) A | Not stated | 2 | Retired |
Delta 4M+(5,4) | Not stated | 4 | Retired |
Delta 4M+(5,4) A | Not stated | 4 | Retired |
Of the four remaining NRO missions on Delta IV Heavy, two will launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and two will launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
The three RS-68A engines on the Delta IV Heavy first stage provided more than £2,100,000of thrust at sea level.
The clear to launch for the Delta IV Heavy was given at 8:03 p.m. EST by NRO Mission Director Col. Chad Davis, director of the NRO’s Office of Space Launch.
A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying the NROL-44 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office lifted off from Space Launch Complex-37 on 2020-12-10 at 8:09 p.m. EST.
The 2020-12-10 Delta IV Heavy launch was the first payload launched from the newly renamed Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The Delta IV Heavy used three common core boosters each powered by an Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68A liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engine producing a combined total of more than £2,100,000of thrust.
United Launch Alliance is testing hardware and conducting a broad review of Delta 4 ground equipment at Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
The GEM 60 retired in August 2019 after flying 86 motors over 26 Delta IV launches.
United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV Heavy attempted in August and September to launch the National Reconnaissance Office’s NROL-44 satellite but ground equipment problems caused scrubs.
Two of the final five Delta IV Heavy missions scheduled between now and 2024 will launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
NASA constructed Space Launch Complex 37 in the 1960s for the Apollo-Saturn program, and the pad was modified in the late 1990s to serve as the launch site for Delta IV.
United Launch Alliance is also preparing a Delta IV Heavy to launch the NROL-44 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office.
GOES-13 was launched in 2006 aboard a Boeing Delta IV rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
SpaceX waited to launch Saocom-1B until after ULA’s Delta IV Heavy NROL-44 launch window but launched first when the ULA mission was delayed.
United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV Heavy NROL-44 mission from Cape Canaveral experienced an abort three seconds before liftoff on 2020-08-29 that delayed that mission by a minimum of seven days.
United Launch Alliance is developing the Vulcan Centaur rocket to replace the Atlas 5 and the Delta 4.
The GEM 60 motor flew on Delta IV launches before it was retired in 2019.
United Launch Alliance carried out a corporate transformation beginning in 2014 that reduced overhead by shedding facilities, eliminating staff, reorganizing its supply chain, retiring the Delta II and Delta IV Medium vehicles, and reducing the number of Atlas V configurations.
SpaceX filed a federal lawsuit in 2014 challenging the Air Force’s block buy contract to United Launch Alliance for Atlas 5 and Delta 4 launches.
Since 2018, launches from Vandenberg’s north and south ranges have included 2 United Launch Alliance Delta IV launches.