Here’s a neat little bit of video you don’t get too often for a Delta IV – footage from onboard during launch. While this footage is always awesome to watch, and is rather common among some other boosters and launch providers, for Delta IV onboard footage has been a little scarce through the years. This is partially due to Delta IV generally being used for classified military payloads, but also for other practical reasons. As I always stress, while they do put off amazing shows, the purposes of such rockets is to get a payload into orbit – not, inherently, to impress audiences, no matter how much I or others might absolutely love to see them do their thing.
That being said, here we have an onboard view of the Delta IV Heavy which launched the Parker Solar Probe last week. It’s not the best footage by any means – hell, it cuts out for a bit during the ignition of the RS-68 engines, a period where the Delta IV is known to “cook itself” as residual hydrogen gas around the booster burns away.
That isn’t to say it’s all bad – you get an awesome view of the booster separation with this camera, and it’s always great to see the exhaust plume expand as the vehicle reaches the thinner upper atmosphere. Still, I wish there could be more shown, but maybe the last few Delta IV Heavy launches, which are coming in the next 5 years, will give us amazing, multi-camera views.
In any case, enjoy the view! It was a hell of a launch!