posted 04-13-2015 03:49 PM               

Please use this topic to discuss United Launch Alliance's (ULA) next generation launch system, the Vulcan rocket.

posted 03-29-2019 02:32 AM               

The age of Vulcan has begun... The first flight panel is being bump formed.

posted 06-25-2020 01:12 PM               

Vulcan Centaur is built on more than 120 combined years of launch experience. An evolution of the flight proven, highly successful Atlas V and Delta IV vehicles, Vulcan Centaur introduces a balance of new technologies and innovative features to ensure a reliable and affordable space launch service. Launching in 2021.

posted 01-09-2021 10:53 AM               

Now that is a beautiful sight! A pair of Blue Origin BE-4 engines installed on a Vulcan Centaur booster for pathfinding operations in preparation for launch in 2021.

posted 08-25-2021 03:22 PM               

The Vulcan Centaur PTT [Pathfinder Tanking Test] booster was transferred from the SPOC [Spaceflight Processing Operations Center] to the pad today [Aug. 25] for a series of fueling tests in the coming weeks

posted 05-04-2022 04:17 PM               

Hmmm. What do you suppose this is? I wonder if it has anything to do with the Vulcan rocket?

Previously from Bruno:

Engines!! Vulcan Flight BE-4s heading to the build stand.

posted 07-02-2022 05:34 PM               

Here is a pic of BE-4 flight 1. And that's just from the combustion chamber up. The bell is below the platform (and out of sight) for easy access for Blue Origin's skilled technicians to assemble this part of the engine.

And from earlier, a photo of the first Vulcan booster:

posted 10-10-2022 11:59 AM               

"We're not going to fly before the end of the year," ULA Chief Executive Tory Bruno said in an interview with two reporters.

He added ULA's customer Astrobotic, a robotics firm using Vulcan to launch a lunar lander, asked for the launch date to be moved to the first quarter of 2023 to buy more time to finish the lander's development.

Astrobotic's request officially axes ULA's previous goal to launch Vulcan by year's end, a target already imperiled by development delays with the rocket's engines that are being built by Amazon.com billionaire Jeff Bezos' space company, Blue Origin.

"The engines are later than our original schedule that had us flying in December, and it would put a lot of pressure on December," Bruno said.

posted 10-31-2022 10:12 PM               

Flight Engine (FE) 2 is installed. FE1 will join it soon.

posted 02-24-2023 08:14 AM               

In a call with reporters Feb. 23, ULA Chief Executive Tory Bruno announced the date for the long-awaited inaugural flight of the rocket as the company gears up for a series of tests of the rocket at Space Launch Complex 41. The launch will carry Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar lander, two demonstration satellites for Amazon's Project Kuiper broadband constellation and a payload for space memorial company Celestis.

"We are now targeting the fourth of May so we plan our manifest around that and be ready to fly that payload when it comes in," Bruno said. ULA will have a window of about four days to conduct the launch.

Several factors led ULA to select that date. One is the mission requirements of Peregrine, the primary payload on the launch, which has a window of only a few days each month to fly its trajectory to the moon.

A second is a series of tests of the Vulcan Centaur rocket, currently in the vertical integration facility adjacent to the pad. Bruno said the rocket will roll out to the pad "a few days from now" for tanking tests followed by at least one wet dress rehearsal where the vehicle is fully loaded with propellants and goes through a practice countdown, stopping just before engine ignition.

That will followed by what ULA calls a flight readiness firing, a wet dress rehearsal that ends with a firing of the BE-4 engines in the booster at about 70% of rated thrust for 3.5 seconds. "That is more than adequate for us to understand all of those systems," he said.

After the flight readiness firing, the rocket will return to the integration facility for payload integration, then be rolled back to the pad for launch.

In parallel, ULA and Blue Origin are finishing the formal qualification of the BE-4 engine, which Bruno described as the "pacing item" for the launch. "It's taking a little bit longer than anticipated."

posted 04-07-2023 04:31 PM               

Shortly after the incident, to his credit, the chief executive of United Launch Alliance, Tory Bruno, was quick to acknowledge on Twitter that something had happened: "Keeping you posted: During Qual testing of Centaur V structural article at MSFC, the hardware experienced an anomaly."

Unpacking this tweet a little bit, Bruno is saying that during qualification testing — the process of testing rocket engines and stages on the ground to determine their behavior during flight-like conditions — the Centaur stage had a problem. More than a week later, however, there are more questions than answers about the accident.

posted 04-09-2023 12:48 PM               

Most of what you're seeing is insulation and smaller bits from the test rig. One piece of the hydrogen tank's dome, about a foot square, ended up a few feet away. The test article is still inside the rig and largely intact, which will significantly help with the investigation.

posted 04-09-2023 05:41 PM            

The same "Ars Technica" report from which you quote goes on to quote a source as saying: "Their test article [a Centaur V stage for the Vulcan-Centaur] is more than just damaged."

Later, the same article refers to "the loss of the Centaur upper stage." I am not aware of the description "the loss" having been contradicted.

posted 04-09-2023 06:28 PM               

This case was an extreme limit case, but was also preceded by over a dozen other extreme cases, which is, obviously, not something that any given single tank would ever experience.

posted 04-11-2023 08:28 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Blackarrow:
Is that normal?

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posted 05-25-2023 09:03 AM               

Along with other planned testing today, the FRF will demonstrate day of launch timelines and procedures, propellant loading operations and the countdown through ignition of the twin booster BE-4 engines.

Prior to the FRF, the team performed an exhaustive review of the hardware, software and ground systems and completed a Flight Readiness Tanking Test (FTT) on Fri., May 12. The FRF is a functional test of the ground systems, software, first stage and engines.

posted 05-25-2023 03:30 PM               

During the countdown, the team observed a delayed response from the booster engine ignition system that needs further review prior to proceeding with the flight readiness firing. We will be rolling the rocket back to the Vertical Integration Facility to gain access to the booster ignition system. The team will continue to review data and determine when Vulcan can roll back to the pad to conduct the flight readiness firing.

posted 06-07-2023 11:59 AM               

A live broadcast of the test from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida is scheduled to begin today (June 7) at 6:45 p.m. EDT (2045 GMT).

posted 06-07-2023 08:46 PM               

Nominal run!

Nothing sweeter in rocketry than the word nominal. Congrats to you, Tory, and the whole team!

posted 06-13-2023 08:52 PM               

The super thin, high performance steel skin needs to be a little thicker near the top of the dome.

posted 06-24-2023 08:06 AM               

The team completed the data review following the recent Flight Readiness Firing and all test objectives were successfully achieved.

In parallel, we have determined the root cause and corrective action for the Centaur V structural test stand anomaly at Marshall Space Flight Center on March 29. Centaur’s thin-walled pressure stabilized tanks require minor reinforcement at the top of the forward dome prior to flight. We plan to de-stack the Vulcan rocket and return the Centaur V to Decatur for modifications.

The booster is healthy and ready to support the first launch and will be stored horizontally in the Horizontal Integration Facility until we are ready to resume mission processing. ULA has several Centaur V flight articles in production in Decatur and one will be identified as the test article to complete qualification testing.