Thor Delta

In-active

McDonnell Douglas (MDC)

May 13, 1960

Description

American orbital launch vehicle. Commercial name for the military's Thor-Delta.

Specifications
  • Stages
    3
  • Length
    31.0 m
  • Diameter
    2.44 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    2.44 m
  • Launch Mass
    54.0 T
  • Thrust
    667.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Thor Delta
  • Family
  • Variant
    Delta
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Thor Delta
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
    $7270000
  • Low Earth Orbit
    226.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity

McDonnell Douglas

Commercial
None
MDC

None

Thor Delta | Tiros 6

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Sept. 18, 1962, 8:53 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

NASA's TIROS (Television & Infra-Red Observation Satellite) program was the first experimental weathersatellite program.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit
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Thor Delta | Telstar 1

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
July 10, 1962, 8:35 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

Communications satellite

Medium Earth Orbit
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Thor Delta | Tiros 5

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
June 19, 1962, 12:19 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

NASA's TIROS (Television & Infra-Red Observation Satellite) program was the first experimental weathersatellite program.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit
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Thor Delta | Ariel 1

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
April 26, 1962, 6 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

Ariel is a series of British research satellites. Ariel 1 was designed to study solar radiation and its impact on Earth's ionosphere.

Low Earth Orbit
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Thor Delta | OSO 1

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
March 7, 1962, 4:06 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

OSO (Orbital Solar Observatory) satellite. Its purpose was to return data on the ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma ray emissions of the sun and galaxy.

Low Earth Orbit
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Thor Delta | Tiros 4

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Feb. 8, 1962, 12:43 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

NASA's TIROS (Television & Infra-Red Observation Satellite) program was the first experimental weather satellite program.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit
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Thor Delta | Tiros 2

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Nov. 23, 1960, 11:13 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

A spin stabilized meteorological satellite. The second in a series of Television Infrared Observation Satellites.

Low Earth Orbit
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Thor Delta | Echo 1

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Aug. 12, 1960, 9:39 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

The Echo 1A spacecraft was a 30.48 m diameter balloon of mylar polyester film 0.0127 mm thick. The spacecraft was designed as a passive communications reflector for transcontinental and intercontinental telephone (voice), radio, and television signals. It had 107.9 MHz beacon transmitters for telemetry purposes. These transmitters were powered by five nickel-cadmium batteries that were charged by 70 solar cells mounted on the balloon. Because of the large area-to-mass ratio of the spacecraft, data for the calculation of atmospheric density and solar pressure could be acquired. The spacecraft was also used to evaluate the technical feasibility of satellite triangulation during the latter portion of its life. Echo 1 failed during the coast period after launch, as the attitude control jets on the second stage failed and the spacecraft did not achieve orbit. Echo 1A was a successful relaunch.

Elliptical Orbit
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Thor Delta | Echo

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
May 13, 1960, 9:16 a.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission:

The Echo 1 spacecraft was a 30.48 m diameter balloon of mylar polyester film 0.0127 mm thick. The spacecraft was designed as a passive communications reflector for transcontinental and intercontinental telephone (voice), radio, and television signals. It had 107.9 MHz beacon transmitters for telemetry purposes. These transmitters were powered by five nickel-cadmium batteries that were charged by 70 solar cells mounted on the balloon. Because of the large area-to-mass ratio of the spacecraft, data for the calculation of atmospheric density and solar pressure could be acquired. The spacecraft was also used to evaluate the technical feasibility of satellite triangulation during the latter portion of its life. Echo 1 failed during the coast period after launch, as the attitude control jets on the second stage failed and the spacecraft did not achieve orbit. Echo 1A was a successful relaunch.

Elliptical Orbit
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