Delta L

	Delta L before the failed attempt to launch Pioneer E
Has use	Expendable launch system
Country of origin	USA
Size
Stages	Castor 2 (3); Long Tank Thor; Delta E; FW-4D ;
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	Cape Canaveral LC-17A; Vandenberg SLC-2E
Total launches	2
Success(es)	1
Failure(s)	1
First flight	27 August 1969
Last flight	31 January 1972

The Delta L, Thor-Delta L, or Thrust-Augmented Long Tank Thor-Delta was a US expendable launch system used to launch the Pioneer E and TETR satellites in 1969 (failed) and HEOS satellite in 1972. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets.

The Delta L was a three-stage rocket. The first stage was a , a stretched version of the Thor missile, augmented by three Castor-2 solid rocket boosters. The second stage was the . An solid rocket motor was used as the third stage.

The first launch of the Delta L took place on 27 August 1969, from Launch Complex 17A at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. A defective valve caused plumbing in the hydraulics system to rupture and leak fluid, causing first-stage engine gimbaling to fail around 2+1⁄2 minutes into launch. The stage completed its burn successfully, but threw the second stage far off course. Orbital velocity could not be achieved, and Range Safety sent the destruct command at T+383 seconds. Neither the Pioneer E nor the TETR^[1] payloads achieved orbit. The second, and final, Delta L launch was from Space Launch Complex 2E at the Vandenberg Air Force Base, on 31 January 1972. It successfully placed the satellite into a highly elliptical orbit.^[2]^[3]

References[]

^ Test satellite for NASA's Manned Space Flight Network see: http://www.astronautix.com/t/tetr.html
^ Wade, Mark. "Delta". Archived from the original on 2008-07-24.
^ Krebs, Gunter. "Thor Family". Gunter's Space Page. Archived from the original on 2007-08-06. Retrieved 2021-12-21.

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[1] Test satellite for NASA's Manned Space Flight Network see: http://www.astronautix.com/t/tetr.html

[2] Wade, Mark. "Delta". Archived from the original on 2008-07-24.

[3] Krebs, Gunter. "Thor Family". Gunter's Space Page. Archived from the original on 2007-08-06. Retrieved 2021-12-21.

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[2]

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Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)

v t Orbital launch systems developed in the United States
Active	Antares 230+ Atlas V Delta IV Heavy Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha LauncherOne Minotaur I IV V C Pegasus XL Astra Rocket 3
In development	Firefly Beta New Glenn Red Dwarf RS1 SLS Block 1 Block 1B Block 2 Starship Terran 1 R Vulcan
Retired	Antares 110/120/130/230 Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able Agena Centaur Conestoga Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" H-I* Juno I Juno II N-I* N-II* Pilot Saturn I IB V Scout Space Shuttle SPARK Sparta Thor Able Ablestar Agena Burner Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Vanguard
* - Japanese projects using US rockets or stages ** - uses Russian engines