Delta 1000

The Delta 1000 series (also referred to as Straight-Eight) was an American expendable launch system which was used to conduct eight orbital launches between 1972 and 1975. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets. Several variants existed, differentiated by a four digit numerical code. Delta 1000 was developed by McDonnell Douglas company (now — Boeing) in 1972. The same first stage and boosters were used on all variants. The first stage was an Extended Long Tank Thor, a further stretched version of the Long Tank Thor used on earlier versions, itself derived from the Thor missile. Four, six or nine Castor-2 solid rocket boosters were attached to increase thrust at lift-off. These improvements permitted the Delta 1000 series to lift 1,835 kg (4,045 lbs) to LEO or 635 kg (1,400 lbs) to GTO. The nickname "Straight-Eight" comes from the fact that its second stage variants had the same 8 ft. (2.4 m) diameter as the first stage; previous Delta second stages were smaller in diameter. Two different second stages were flown, depending on the variant: The Delta-F second stage, featuring the Aerojet AJ10-118F engine, was flown on three launches, with Explorer 47, 50 and 51; the Aerojet engine was flown for the (Anik A1) satellite launch (mistakenly marked as xx1x in Delta 1000 series) The Delta-P second stage, featuring the new TRW TR-201 engine, was used for two launches each in 1973 (with Explorer 49) and 1975 (with OSO 8). Some flights used a third stage, either the Thiokol Star-37D or Star-37E, for launches beyond low Earth orbit. One probe launched by the Delta 1000 series, Delta 1913, was Explorer 49 that was placed into lunar orbit on 10 June 1973. Delta 1000 rockets were launched from Space Launch Complex 2W at Vandenberg AFB and Launch Complex 17B at Cape Canaveral. All eight (1972–1975) launches were successful. The Japanese N-II and H-I launch vehicles used the same Extended Long Tank Thor first stage. For the second stage, the N-II used the Delta-F while the H-I had the Japanese LE-5 engine which used liquid hydrogen and oxygen.

Delta 1000 series
Launch history
Delta 1910 launching OSO-8
Function	Expendable launch system
Country of origin	United States
Status	Retired
Launch sites	Canaveral LC-17B Vandenberg SLC-2W
Total launches	8
Success(es)	8
First flight	23 September 1972
Last flight	21 June 1975
[edit on Wikidata]

The Delta 1000 series (also referred to as Straight-Eight) was an American expendable launch system which was used to conduct eight orbital launches between 1972 and 1975. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets. Several variants existed, differentiated by a four digit numerical code. Delta 1000 was developed by McDonnell Douglas company (now — Boeing) in 1972.

The same first stage and boosters were used on all variants. The first stage was an Extended Long Tank Thor, a further stretched version of the Long Tank Thor used on earlier versions, itself derived from the Thor missile. Four, six or nine Castor-2 solid rocket boosters were attached to increase thrust at lift-off. These improvements permitted the Delta 1000 series to lift 1,835 kg (4,045 lbs) to LEO or 635 kg (1,400 lbs) to GTO.

The nickname "Straight-Eight" comes from the fact that its second stage variants had the same 8 ft. (2.4 m) diameter as the first stage; previous Delta second stages were smaller in diameter. Two different second stages were flown, depending on the variant:

The Delta-F second stage, featuring the Aerojet AJ10-118F engine, was flown on three launches, with Explorer 47, 50 and 51; the Aerojet engine was flown for the (Anik A1) satellite launch (mistakenly marked as xx1x in Delta 1000 series)
The Delta-P second stage, featuring the new TRW TR-201 engine, was used for two launches each in 1973 (with Explorer 49) and 1975 (with OSO 8).^[1]

Some flights used a third stage, either the Thiokol Star-37D or Star-37E, for launches beyond low Earth orbit. One probe launched by the Delta 1000 series, Delta 1913, was Explorer 49 that was placed into lunar orbit on 10 June 1973.

Delta 1000 rockets were launched from Space Launch Complex 2W at Vandenberg AFB and Launch Complex 17B at Cape Canaveral. All eight (1972–1975) launches were successful.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

Delta 1000 series launches
S/N	Version	Date	Location	Payload
Delta 90	Delta-1604	23.09.1972	LC-17B	Explorer 47
Delta 92	Delta-1914	10.11.1972	LC-17B	Anik A1
Delta 94	Delta-1914	20.04.1973	LC-17B	Anik A2
Delta 95	Delta-1913	10.06.1973	LC-17B	Explorer 49
Delta 97	Delta-1604	26.10.1973	LC-17B	Explorer 50
Delta 99	Delta-1900	16.12.1973	SLC-2W	Explorer 51
Delta 109	Delta-1410	09.04.1975	SLC-2W	GEOS 3
Delta 112	Delta-1910	21.06.1975	LC-17B	OSO 8

The Japanese N-II and H-I launch vehicles used the same Extended Long Tank Thor first stage. For the second stage, the N-II used the Delta-F while the H-I had the Japanese LE-5 engine which used liquid hydrogen and oxygen.^[8]^[9]

References

[edit]

^ Kyle, Ed (9 April 2010). "Delta 1000 series". Space Launch Report. Archived from the original on 2022-03-21.
^ "Delta-1410". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2025-06-18.
^ "Delta-1604". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2025-06-18.
^ "Delta-1900". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2025-06-18.
^ "Delta-1910". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2025-06-18.
^ "Delta-1913". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2025-06-18.
^ "Delta-1914". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2025-06-18.
^ 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.

v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Ariane 6 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S 2^† Chollima-1 Electron Eris^† Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H3 HANBIT-NANO^† Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 KAIROS^† Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica 1 2 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 6C 7 7A 8 11 11H 12 12A LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C New Glenn Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB Spectrum^† SSLV Starship Tianlong 2 3^† Unha Vega C Vulcan Centaur Zhuque 2E 3
In development	Antares 330 Bloostar Blue Whale 1 Cyclone-4M Deca Eclipse Epsilon S Gravity-2 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kinetica 2H 3 KSLV-III Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 Miura 5 Neutron New Line 1 NGLV Nova OS-M 2 4 Pallas-1 Red Dwarf RFA One SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R VLM Vega E Zero Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able^† Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Diamant Dnepr Energia Epsilon Europa I^† II^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIA H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan^† Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 2-1v Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Rocket 3 RS1^† Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II^† X-2^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard Vega original VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 1^† 2
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 e Orbital launch systems developed in the United States
Active	Atlas V**^†† Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Minotaur I IV V C New Glenn Pegasus XL SLS Block 1 Vulcan Centaur
In development	Antares 330 Daytona I Eclipse Neutron Nova Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Starship Terran R
Retired	Antares 110/120/130/230/230+^††† 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 IV Heavy Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" H-I* Juno I Juno II LauncherOne N-I* N-II* Pilot^† Rocket 3 RS1^† Saturn I IB V Scout Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta Terran 1^† 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 ^† - never succeeded ^†† - no new orders accepted and production stopped ^††† - used Ukrainian first stage

Thor and Delta rockets

Rockets

Thor

Delta

Alphabetical	Delta A Delta B Delta C Delta D Delta E Delta G Delta J Delta L Delta M Delta N
Numerical	Delta 0100 Delta 1000 Delta 2000 Delta 3000 Delta 4000 Delta 5000 Delta 6000 Delta 7000 Delta 8000 Delta 9000
Modern	Delta II Delta III Delta IV Delta IV Heavy

Export

Launch sites

Canaveral	(S)LC-17 LC-18B SLC-37B
Johnston	LE-1 LE-2
Tanegashima	Osaki
Vandenberg	SLC-1 SLC-2 SLC-3 SLC-6 SLC-10
Bases	Bardney Breighton Caistor Carnaby Catfoss Coleby Grange Driffield Feltwell Folkingham Full Sutton Harrington Hemswell Ludford Magna Melton Mowbray Mepal North Luffenham North Pickenham Polebrook Shepherds Grove Tuddenham

Components

Boosters

First stages

Common Booster Core

Upper Stages

Delta	Delta-A Delta-D Delta-E Delta-F Delta-K Delta-P DCSS
Other	Able Ablestar Agena Altair Burner FW-4D IABS PAM-D Star UM-129

Engines

Manufacturers

Rocket	Douglas McDonnell Douglas Boeing United Launch Alliance
Engines	Aerojet Alliant Rocketdyne Thiokol TRW

Launches

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