After six decades of launches, the liftoff of the last-ever Delta rocket on Tuesday (April 9) brought with it a change in the way the U.S. sends satellites, interplanetary probes and spacecraft into Earth orbit.
United Launch Alliance (ULA) ignited its last Delta IV Heavy rocket to launch NROL-70, a classified payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The powerful booster departed Space Launch Complex-37 (SLC-37) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 12:53 p.m. EDT (1653 GMT), literally setting itself on fire for the 16th and final time.
