Boeing unlikely to fly Delta III vehicle again

The Boeing Delta III will probably not make another flight after a chequered two-year career during which it has performed only three launches.

Boeing confirms that it has already cannibalised parts of four Delta III vehicles for Delta IIs.

Components from a further six Delta IIIs are likely to be used in the same way, possibly for the new Delta IV. This will leave seven Delta IIIs, with no firm launch commitments. The first Delta IV is to be launched this summer and will probably take on the remaining Delta III manifest.

The company-funded Delta III has suffered a number of setbacks in its short history. It failed on its 1998 maiden flight, destroying the Galaxy X satellite. On the second flight in 1999, its upper stage failed to restart, stranding its Orion satellite payload in the wrong orbit.

In 2000, a third demonstration flight placed a dummy payload into a transfer orbit which did not match the pre-launch predictions.

Source: Flight International