Delta

Thor-Delta

Mission Profile

Delta (Thor-Delta) is the original configuration of the long-running Delta launch vehicle family, a three-stage rocket combining the Douglas Thor IRBM first stage with a modified Vanguard second stage and a solid kick motor. First flying on 13 May 1960 from Cape Canaveral, it stood 28 meters tall and placed America's first communications satellite, Echo 1, into orbit. The Thor-Delta established the modular launch vehicle concept that would evolve through dozens of variants over the next five decades into the modern Delta II and Delta IV families.