The Delta G, or Thor-Delta G was an American

expendable launch system An expendable launch system (or expendable launch vehicle/ELV) is a launch vehicle that can be launched only once, after which its components are either destroyed during reentry or discarded in space. ELVs typically consist of several rocket sta ...

used to launch two biological research satellites in 1966 and 1967. It was a member of the

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also re ...

family of rockets. The Delta G was a two-stage derivative of the

Delta E The Delta E, or Thor-Delta E was an American expendable launch system used for twenty-three orbital launches between 1965 and 1971. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets. The first stage was a Thor missile in the DSV-2C configuration, ...

. The first stage was a

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...

missile in the DSV-2C configuration and the second stage was a

. Three Castor-1

solid rocket booster A solid rocket booster (SRB) is a large solid propellant motor used to provide thrust in spacecraft launches from initial launch through the first ascent. Many launch vehicles, including the Atlas V, SLS and space shuttle, have used SRBs to give ...

s were clustered around the first stage. The solid-fuel upper stage used on the Delta E was not used on the Delta G. Both launches occurred from

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida. Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the statio ...

Launch Complex 17. The first was from pad 17A on 14 December 1966 at 19:20 GMT, with

Biosatellite 1 Biosatellite 1, also known as Biosat 1 and Biosatellite A, was the first mission in NASA's Biosatellite program. It was launched on December 14, 1966, by a Delta G rocket from Launch Complex 17A of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station into an or ...

. At 22:04 on 7 September 1967,

Biosatellite 2 Biosatellite 2, also known as Biosat 2 or Biosatellite B, was the second mission in NASA's Biosatellite program for biological research. It was launched on September 7, 1967, by a Delta G rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. ...

was launched from pad B on the second Delta G.

References

Delta (rocket family) {{rocket-stub