Delta IV Heavy inaugural launch
The first flight of a Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle featuring 3 CBCs or Common Booster Cores, each powered with a single, cryogenic RS68 engine. The launch, which occured in December 2004 was a partial failure when (due to cavitation in CBC propellant lines) sensors incorrectly detected propellant depletion and shut down the engines several seconds prematurely. The upper stage wasn t able to compensate completely and the demo payload was left in a lower than planned orbit.
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