Delta 7000H Credit - © Mark Wade

Version of Delta 7000 using much larger GEM 46 solid rocket motors originally developed for the Delta 3.

Launches: 3. Success Rate: 100.00%. First Launch Date: 2003-07-08. Last Launch Date: 2004-08-03. Payload: 1,000 kg (2,200 lb). to a: earth escape trajectory. Associated Spacecraft: MER, SIRTF. Liftoff Thrust: 4,510.000 kN (1,013,880 lbf). Total Mass: 286,000 kg (630,000 lb). Core Diameter: 2.44 m (8.00 ft). Total Length: 39.00 m (127.00 ft).

• Stage Number: 0. 9 x Stage: GEM 46. Gross Mass: 19,327 kg (42,608 lb). Empty Mass: 2,282 kg (5,030 lb). Thrust (vac): 628.310 kN (141,250 lbf). Isp: 278 sec. Burn time: 75 sec. Isp(sl): 273 sec. Diameter: 1.17 m (3.83 ft). Span: 1.17 m (3.83 ft). Length: 14.70 m (48.20 ft). Propellants: Solid. No Engines: 1. Engine: GEM 46. Nine 1168-mm (46 in.) diameter Alliant graphite epoxy motors (GEM LDXLs) (strap-on solid rocket motors [SSRMs]) augment the first-stage performance and are a direct evolution from the GEMs currently used on Delta II. Three ground-ignited SSRMs have thrust vector control (TVC) to increase control authority. Ordnance for motor ignition and separation systems is completely redundant. Solid-motor separation is accomplished using redundantly initiated ordnance thrusters that provide the radial thrust to separate the expended solid motors from the booster.

• Stage Number: 1. 1 x Stage: Delta Thor XLT-C. Gross Mass: 101,900 kg (224,600 lb). Empty Mass: 5,900 kg (13,000 lb). Thrust (vac): 1,054.195 kN (236,992 lbf). Isp: 302 sec. Burn time: 265 sec. Isp(sl): 255 sec. Diameter: 2.44 m (8.00 ft). Span: 2.44 m (8.00 ft). Length: 26.05 m (85.46 ft). Propellants: Lox/Kerosene. No Engines: 1. Engine: RS-27C. Other designations: Extra ELT Thor+.

• Stage Number: 2. 1 x Stage: Delta K. Gross Mass: 6,954 kg (15,330 lb). Empty Mass: 950 kg (2,090 lb). Thrust (vac): 43.630 kN (9,808 lbf). Isp: 319 sec. Burn time: 431 sec. Diameter: 1.70 m (5.50 ft). Span: 2.40 m (7.80 ft). Length: 5.89 m (19.32 ft). Propellants: N2O4/Aerozine-50. No Engines: 1. Engine: AJ10-118K.

• Stage Number: 3. 1 x Stage: PAM-D. Gross Mass: 2,141 kg (4,720 lb). Empty Mass: 232 kg (511 lb). Thrust (vac): 67.155 kN (15,097 lbf). Isp: 292 sec. Burn time: 88 sec. Isp(sl): 0 sec. Diameter: 1.24 m (4.06 ft). Span: 1.24 m (4.06 ft). Length: 2.04 m (6.69 ft). Propellants: Solid. No Engines: 1. Engine: Star 48. Other designations: TE-M-711-18.

2003 July 8 - 04:18 GMT - Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Delta 7000H. Model: Delta 7925. LV Configuration: Delta 7925H.

• Opportunity (Mars Exploration Rover B, MER-1) Nation: USA. Mass: 1,063 kg (2,343 lb). Class: Planetary. Type: Mars. Spacecraft: MER. Agency: JPL. COSPAR: 2003-032A. USAF Sat Cat: 27849. Decay Date: 2004-01-25. NASA's second Mars Exploration Rover, MER-B (MER-1) 'Opportunity', was launched by a Delta 7925H, which was similar to the standard 7925 model but with larger GEM-46 solid strapon motors previously used only on the Delta III 8930. MER-B separated from the Delta third stage at 0436 UTC and was then on its way to Mars. The launch had been delayed from June 26, 29 and 30, July 3, 6 and 7. Mass included cruise stage, lander and rover. Rover mass was 170 kg, lander 360 kg.

• SIRTF Nation: USA. Mass: 923 kg (2,034 lb). Class: Astronomy. Type: Infrared. Spacecraft: SIRTF. Agency: NASA. COSPAR: 2003-038A. USAF Sat Cat: 27871. Originally to have launched January 9, 2003. Delayed six times. The Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) was the last of NASA's 'Great Observatories'. It had a 0.85-meter infrared telescope, with a liquid-helium cooled focal plane carrying the three main instruments. SIRTF was launched by the second Delta II Heavy. The second stage entered a 166 x 167 km x 31.5 deg Earth parking orbit, and after about 33 minutes of coast, passing south of Madagascar, restarted at 0613 UTC to enter a hyperbolic orbit with a perigee of 170 km, an eccentricity of 1.0061, and a velocity of 11.05 km/s. This placed it in a solar orbit of 0.996 x 1.019 AU x 1.14 deg with a year about 4 days longer than Earth's.

• Messenger Nation: USA. Program: Discovery. Payload: Discovery 8. Mass: 1,066 kg (2,350 lb). Class: Planetary. Type: Mercury. Spacecraft: Messenger. Agency: NASA. Manufacturer: John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. COSPAR: 2004-030A. USAF Sat Cat: 28391. The NASA Messenger probe to Mercury was was first placed into a parking orbit. The Delta booster second stage's second burn raised the orbit, then the PAM-D solid motor burned to put the probe on an escape trajectory into a 0.92 x 1.08 AU x 6.4 deg heliocentric orbit. Messenger (Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging) was to make an Earth flyby on August 1, 2005; Venus flybys in 2006 and 2007; and Mercury encounters in January and October 2008 , September 2009 and March 2011 . On this last encounter the Aerojet 660N engine was to fire to put Messenger into a 200 x 15,193 km x 80 deg orbit around Mercury. Launch delayed from March 10, May 11, August 2