We’ll have to wait a bit longer for the first flight of United Launch Alliance’s new heavy-lift rocket.
The new rocket was developed by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, and was supposed to have its first launch in May, however, a propellant tank cracked during testing in March, according to the New York Times.
It was then reported that a BE-4 engine exploded during testing on June 30. That incident destroyed the Vulcan’s engine and damaged nearby infrastructure, according to CNBC. “Remedial actions” are underway to address the cause, Blue Origin officials said at the time.
ULA CEO and President Tory Bruno told reporters on Thursday that the recent explosion of a Blue Origin BE-4 engine during testing won’t affect Vulcan Centaur’s first mission. (The BE-4 powers Vulcan Centaur’s first stage).
Hydrogen leaking from the tank ignited in a fireball, destroying the Vulcan’s upper stage and damaging the test stand. Bruno said the problem was now well understood, a fix was in the works, and the first Vulcan launch was expected to occur later this year.
Competition in the rocket business
In recent years, Elon Musk’s SpaceX has dominated the industry by launching spacecraft and astronauts at prolific rates. The company’s lower launch prices have been a boon to satellite operators, NASA, and the U.S. Space Force. As of 2022, the cost per launch was US$67 million.
But those customers, especially the Space Force, do not want to rely on one company. The Space Force is requiring that United Launch Alliance launch two Vulcan missions before it is confident about using the rocket for spy satellites and other national security payloads.
About 20 years ago, ULA had a monopoly on national security launches, using its Atlas V and Delta IV rockets, which worked flawlessly. But ULA had no commercial customers simply because of the costs involved in a launch.
SpaceX, in the meantime, worked at creating a rocket booster that could be used a number of times, and the Falcon 9 was born. It became the first commercial rocket to make a commercial resupply mission to the ISS, and the first65t commercial rocket to send humans into orbit and is currently the only such U.S. rocket currently certified for transporting humans to the ISS.
So far this year, the United Launch Alliance has launched just one rocket, a Delta IV, compared with nearly 50 launched by SpaceX.
When the Vulcan Centaur makes its first mission, sometime in 2024, it will carry a commercial lunar lander built by Astrobotic Technology of Pittsburgh, two demonstration satellites for Amazon for its planned Kuiper satellite internet network and the ashes of people who wanted to be buried in space as part of a memorial service provided by a company named Celestis.
