Delta IV Heavy

United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Heavy rocket serves the nation’s high-priority U.S. Space Force and National Reconnaissance Office space programs with distinction as America's proven heavy-lifter. The vehicle also launched NASA's Orion capsule on its first orbital test flight and sent the Parker Solar Probe on its journey to become the fastest robot in history while surfing through the sun's atmosphere.

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket will launch the NROL-44 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). Liftoff will occur from Space Launch Complex-37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

Space Launch Complex-37

Space Launch Complex-37, the East Coast home of the Delta IV Heavy rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, is a classic launch pad design with a Fixed Umbilical Tower (FUT) and a Mobile Service Tower (MST). The core stages of the rocket are assembled in the nearby Horizontal Integration Facility, then rolled to the pad for attachment of the payload, final testing and the countdown. The mobile gantry is retracted to unveil the rocket several hours before liftoff.

NASA constructed SLC-37 in the 1960s for uncrewed test flights in the Apollo-Saturn program. The pad was rejuvenated in an extensive overhaul to support the Delta IV starting in the late 1990s.