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ArtistThe trajectory requires high launch energy, so the probe was launched on a Delta IV Heavy class launch vehicle and an upper stage based on the Star 48BV solid rocket motor.[30] Interplanetary gravity assists will provide further deceleration relative to its heliocentric orbit, which will result in a heliocentric speed record at perihelion.[4][35] As the probe passes around the Sun, it will achieve a velocity of up to 200 km/s (120 mi/s), which will temporarily make it the fastest human-made object, almost three times as fast as the previous record holder, Helios-2.[36][37][38] Like every object in an orbit, due to gravity the spacecraft will accelerate as it nears perihelion, then slow down again afterward until it reaches its aphelion.