The famous launch island, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, sees a favorable 90 percent good weather in time for Thursday night, December 10, for the United Launch Alliance's (ULA) Delta-IV rocket launch for its mission. The popular competitor of SpaceX would be pushing through for its scheduled NROL-44 Mission that would bring a payload from the NRO.
Delta IV's NROL-44 Mission is tasked with bringing the top tier satellite to NRO's existing constellation of orbiting satellites specializing in data gathering and reconnaissance. The top-secret mission is entrusted to ULA and its Delta IV Heavy rocket to secure payload delivery to orbit.
However, the mission was aborted five times already, during the year, due to technical issues, which notably happened last August and September. Three of the launch's previous attempts were problems of the Delta IV Heavy rocket itself, which the team previously assessed to be fixed and ready.
ULA vs. SpaceX: Rivalry for Both Space Tech Giants
The United Launch Alliance may have had the Delta IV, which was trusted for several decades by the US government, but SpaceX's reusable technology has cut the launch prices. Now, SpaceX is the first preferred vessel for resupply missions and the Commercial Crew program of NASA.
Boeing and Lockheed Martin's collaboration to form ULA is retaliation and venture to the space race industry, which most recently, SpaceX was leading.
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Written by Isaiah Alonzo
