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Delta IV-Heavy NROL-32

Delta IV-Heavy launches NROL-32

11/21/10 ~ 5:58 p.m.

A Delta IV-Heavy rocket, the world's largest in size at nearly 24-stories tall and sporting 1.9 million pounds of thrust from its three RS-68 core engines, roars off Pad 37B at Cape Canaveral with a torrent of fire. Onboard is NRO L32, hoisted into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office. Dubbed by the Air Force as the world's largest satellite, it likely features an antenna about the size of a football field once unfurled, and is believed to be an eavesdropping satellite positioned high above the equator in geosynchronous orbit.

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