The Delta IV Heavy stands tall at 233 feet, weighs approximately 1.6 million pounds, and generates a staggering 2.1 million pounds of thrust using its three hydrogen-fueled common booster cores, each equipped with an RS-68A main engine. The rocket also features a Delta Cryogenic Second Stage powered by an RL10B-2 engine for intermediate escape orbit and a Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems solid-fuel third stage (Star 48BV) for delivering the final push towards the inner solar system. A bi-sector composite payload fairing protects the spacecraft during atmospheric ascent, measuring 63 feet long.
Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37), located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, serves as the East Coast home for the Delta IV series. Constructed in the 1960s for uncrewed test flights in the Apollo-Saturn program, SLC-37 underwent extensive renovations in the late 1990s to support Delta IV missions.