Delta C


The Delta C, or Thor-Delta C was an American expendable launch system used for thirteen orbital launches between 1963 and 1969. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets.

Configuration

The first stage was a Thor missile in the DSV-2A configuration, and the second stage was the Delta D, which was derived from the earlier Delta. The baseline Delta C used an Altair-2 third stage, whilst the Delta C1 had an FW-4D third stage, which provided a higher payload capacity than the Altair. It is unclear whether two or three launches were made using the C1 configuration.

Launches

The Delta C was launched from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 17. Most launches carried NASA research satellites into low Earth orbit.
VariantS/NDateLaunch SitePayloadResult
Delta C387/D-2127.11.1963CC LC-17BExplorer 18 Success
Delta C392/D-2604.10.1964CC LC-17AExplorer 21 Success
Delta C393/D-2721.12.1964CC LC-17AExplorer 26 Success
Delta C374/D-2822.01.1965CC LC-17ATIROS 9Success
Delta C411/D-2903.02.1965CC LC-17BOSO 2Success
Delta C441/D-3129.05.1965CC LC-17BExplorer 28 Success
Delta C415/D-3202.07.1965CC LC-17BTIROS 10Success
Delta C434/D-3325.08.1965CC LC-17BOSO CFailure
Delta C445/D-3603.02.1966CC LC-17AESSA 1Success
Delta C431/D-4608.03.1967CC LC-17AOSO 3Success
Delta C490/D-5318.10.1967CC LC-17BOSO 4Success
Delta C1436/D-3825.05.1966CC LC-17BExplorer 32 Success
Delta C1487/D-6422.01.1969CC LC-17BOSO 5Success