Secret Spy Satellite Set To Launch By Delta IV Heavy

The United Launch Alliance has started fueling America's most powerful rocket, the Delta 4 Heavy with super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in preparation for the launch of a classified surveillance satellite by the National Reconnaissance Office.

The Delta IV rocket, which was provided by the United Launch Alliance, will be launching its classified spy satellite for the Naval Reconnaissance Office. It was originally set to launch at 1:59pm ET, but it was delayed because of poor weather. It is now scheduled to launch at 5:58pm EST from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

According to Universe Today, The rocket stands 236 feet tall and features three core boosters strapped together. It will generate more than 2 million pounds of thrust that will lift off from Launch Complex 37. It is said that the most powerful rocket available today is needed for a National Reconnaissance Office payload speculated to be a large eavesdropping satellite, in the range of 15,000 pounds that will fly more than 22,000 miles above the equator.

The mission which is named NROL-37 has a classified mission statement. The only thing the NRO has said is that the satellite will "support national security." It is going to be launched into a geosynchronous orbit using a Delta IV heavy. This is the first time this type of rocket has been used since it launched an Orion module back in 2014, FloridaToday reported.

Amateur spacecraft observers who have studied NRO missions believe this satellite, flying east from the Cape, is likely the seventh of a type called Mentor or Advanced Orion. According to an observer from Toronto Ted Molczan, the satellites that collect signals intelligence are some of the brightest and most visible in in geosynchronous orbits, where spacecraft match the speed of Earth's rotation.

"A lot of the brightness must come from a pretty big antenna," said Molczan. "We certainly don't know in detail what these spacecraft look like; we don't know exactly what they're doing. But we can guess that it's some kind eavesdropping."

The patch for the mission labeled NROL-37 depicts, according to the NRO, "a knight standing in front of the U.S. flag in a defensive posture. The eagle on the chest represents freedom." The art shows the knight bolting on a horse with a sword overhead. The NRO, which brands itself as "America's eyes and ears in space," does not discuss its missions, popularmechanics.com said.

"Frequently, NRO systems are the only collectors able to access critical areas of interest, and data from overhead sensors provides unique information and perspectives not available from other sources," the agency's Web site reads.

To maintain the intelligence mission's secrecy, Thursday's full launch window has not been released, and ULA will black out its launch broadcast about five minutes into the flight.