Using Lightroom rather than Photoshop, I edited one of the photos I took from the January 8, 2024 launch of ULA’s Vulcan. The second launch of this rocket is scheduled for Friday 10/4.
Vulcan CERT-1 Revisited
ULA Rolls Second Vulcan Rocket To Its Launch Mount
Photo: United Launch Alliance
United Launch Alliance has moved its second Vulcan Rocket from their Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 to the launch mount. Final preparations can now begin for a launch scheduled for NET (not earlier than) Friday morning. Launch time is unofficially expected to be between 06:00 AM – 009:00 AM EDT, but ULA has not yet announced an official time for T-0.
Test Mission
This mission, dubbed “CERT-2” will not carry a customer payload. Originally slated to launch Sierra’s Dream Chaser on its maiden voyage to the International Space Station, ULA and Sierra agreed to remove the payload because Sierra would not have Dream Chaser flight-ready this fall. Instead, ULA will fly an inert “dummy” to simulate a payload with the goal being to further prove out the Vulcan system and also to achieve certification from the Department of Defense for Vulcan to launch national defense payloads.
In its first launch, Vulcan performed admirably, launching Astrobiotics Peregrine lunar lander to its target orbit, with the lander then traveling to cislunar space.
Vulcan is the first rocket designed wholly by United Launch Alliance. The Delta and Atlas family of rockets were legacy designs created by Boeing and Lockheed Martin respectively prior to the founding of the company in 2006. ULA is a joint venture between the two aerospace giants, and has successfully launched more than 157 missions since its inception.
According to the company, “This second Certification (Cert-2) launch will demonstrate Vulcan’s high-energy rocket architecture by achieving an Earth-escape trajectory and placing the Centaur V with an inert, non-deployable payload into deep space where it will orbit the sun for the rest of time. Cert-2 follows Vulcan’s successful inaugural launch on Jan. 8, 2024.”
Vulcan CERT-2 will be externally identical to the CERT-1 vehicle: along with the methane-oxygen fueled first stage powered by two Blue Origin BE-4 engines (the same engine Blue Origin will use with New Glenn) the first stage will also have two GEM solid-rocket boosters attached to give it additional lifting power. Together, the methane-fueled main engines and SRBs will provide the 2 million pounds (8.9 kilo-Newtons) of thrust generated at liftoff to power Vulcan off the launch pad.
Mark Peller, ULA’s senior vice president, Vulcan Development and Advanced Programs said in a press release that, “After the key objectives necessary for certification are completed, the mission will evaluate additional changes to the design of the upper stage and how it is operated over long coast periods to further increase its endurance.”
In other words, ULA plans to first meet the requirements of DoD certification, and afterwards, work on iterative improvements on the new vehicle.
ULA Launches Atlas V and USSF-51
Photo: Ed Cordero / ERC Photos
United Launch Alliance launched an Atlas V 551 from Space Launch Complex 41 this morning carrying the USSF-51 classified national defense payload for the US Space Force. Liftoff was at 06:45 AM EDT, just as the sun was rising.
Today’s launch was the last national security payload for Atlas V, but the rocket will continue to fly until 2030 when it will loft astronauts aboard Starliner to the ISS. The next Atlas V scheduled to launch will be for Amazon’s Project Kuiper sometime in the fourth quarter of this year, carrying the first of its production satellites to orbit for the company’s planned LEO-based Internet service.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Liftoff was nominal, and the rocket soared to orbit with no apparent issues. Tory Bruno, ULA’s CEO, called the flight “Hot, straight, and normal” six minutes after liftoff, and moments later announced that Atlas V was in orbit. Presumably, pending an announcement of payload deployment, the flight was a success.
Launch Replay
Payload
Today’s payload was a classified national defense asset for the US Space Force. No other information was given.
Photo: Ed Cordero / ERC Photos
Remaining Atlas V Launches From Cape Canaveral
Despite some reports in the media, today’s flight was not the last-ever Atlas V launch from Cape Canaveral, instead, it was the final national security mission from the workhorse rocket. The last Atlas V won’t launch until 2030 if the current manifest plays out as planned:
Next Launch
SpaceX will launch another tranche of Starlink satellites overnight on Friday morning.
- Date: NET August 2, 2024
- Organization: SpaceX
- Mission: Starlink 10-6
- Rocket: Falcon 9
- Launch Site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
- Launch Window: 12:19 AM – 05:02 AM EDT
- Payload: Starlink satellites
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Dream Chaser Won’t Be Ready for ULA’s Vulcan CERT-2 Flight
In an announcement today, United Launch Alliance stated that Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser is off of the second flight of ULA’s Vulcan rocket.
Statement from United Launch Alliance, June 26, 2024
On the X platform today, ULA said “We have been working closely with our current VulcanRocket Cert2 customer, Sierra Space, and while ULA will be ready to fly, Sierra Space has shared that they are making excellent progress with Dream Chaser but have schedule risk to fly by that time.”
They added, “Based on this delay and urgent national security needs, we are prioritizing the Cert2 mission to enable certification to launch our first National Security Space mission.
“We plan to fly an inert payload, experiments, and demonstrations the #Cert2 mission.
“We are working with Sierra Space to identify the next available launch date.”
ULA concluded that they are “[A]ware of the heightened threat environment the nation is facing in space and takes seriously the critical responsibility of launching essential National Security Space satellite assets to orbit promptly.”
For their part, at the time of this writing, Sierra Space has made no statement regarding the matter.
The move, however, makes a lot of sense for all parties: ULA needs to fly Vulcan a second time successfully to achieve certification from the Department of Defense to fly national security payloads aboard Vulcan. That in turn would allow ULA to fulfill its contracted obligations and to get its backlogged manifest of DoD launches in process.
ULA has received the booster for Vulcan CERT-2, and it is being processed at the company’s facilities in Florida, but it has yet to announce a target launch date for the vehicle.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
For Sierra Space, the move relieves schedule pressure to some degree and allows them time to focus on ensuring that no stones are left unturned in the lead-up to Dream Chaser’s maiden spaceflight. Given that the Tenacity spacecraft that will fly the mission is also planned to be re-used, its critical for Sierra to have a successful launch and landing of the spacecraft.
Dream Chaser Arrives At KSC
Photo: NASA
Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser ‘Tenacity’ arrived at Kennedy Space Center on May 18, and is now inside the Space Systems Processing Facility’s (SSPF) High Bay, where it will undergo final testing and prelaunch processing ahead of its maiden launch scheduled for later this year. The novel spacecraft will undergo acoustic and electromagnetic interference and compatibility testing, completion of work on the spaceplane’s thermal protection system, and final payload integration in the SSPF prior to launching later this year.
The move came after Tenacity finished its environmental test suite NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. “Successful completion of an incredibly rigorous environmental testing campaign in close partnership with NASA is a significant milestone and puts Dream Chaser on track for operations later this year,” said Sierra Space CEO, Tom Vice on May 9th. “This is the year that we transition from rigorous research and development to regular orbital operations and – in doing so – transform the way we connect space and Earth.”
Dream Chaser will be the first vehicle to orbit from a legacy of six decades of experimental lifting body vehicle research. Previous iterations include NASA’s HL-20 spaceplane concept of the early 1990s, the X-20 Dyna-Soar, as well as Northrop M2-F2, Northrop M2-F3, Northrop HL-10, Martin Marietta X-24A and X-24B, and Martin Marietta X-23 PRIME vehicles.
On its first mission, Dream Chaser will deliver supplies to ISS, as well as test the vehicle on orbit through re-entry and landing. That mission should happen later this year aboard a ULA Vulcan rocket.
Graphic: Sierra Space
Dream Chaser Legacy Vehicles
Credits
HL-10: NASA
HL-20 1: NASA
HL-20 2: NASA
M2-F2: NASA
X24-A: NASA
X-24-B: NASA
X-23 PRIME: National Archives via Dwayne Day
Starliner Delayed, Now NET May 25
Photo: Charles Boyer / ToT
After a day of speculation and probably leaks of the information on background, NASA, Boeing and United Launch Alliance have announced that they are pushing the schedule back another four days for the Crewed Flight Test of Starliner. The launching will be “no earlier than 3:09 p.m. EDT Saturday, May 25, for the flight test carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station,” according to a release from NASA.
As to the reason for the new delay, NASA stated:
“The additional time allows teams to further assess a small helium leak in the Boeing Starliner spacecraft’s service module traced to a flange on a single reaction control system thruster. Pressure testing performed on May 15 on the spacecraft’s helium system showed the leak in the flange is stable and would not pose a risk at that level during the flight. The testing also indicated the rest of the thruster system is sealed effectively across the entire service module. Boeing teams are working to develop operational procedures to ensure the system retains sufficient performance capability and appropriate redundancy during the flight. As that work proceeds, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and the International Space Station Program will take the next few days to review the data and procedures to make a final determination before proceeding to flight countdown.“
NASA, Boeing Now Working Toward May 25 Launch of Crew Flight Test
Reading between the lines, it seems that the leak has not been repaired but is instead “stable.” NASA and Boeing now have to “assess” whether this is an acceptable condition for flight. That decision will be made in the next few days and then everyone will have a better idea of when Starliner can launch with crew aboard for the first time.
Vulcan Has Picture Perfect Maiden Launch From Cape
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan rocket lifted off of Pad SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force station at 2:18:38 EST this morning, with the rocket working in near-perfect fashion as it sent the Astrobiotics Peregrine lunar lander towards the moon, and a Celestis memorial payload on its way to permanent solar orbit.
After a countdown with no apparent problems or issues, Vulcan lifted off right on time and flew off the launch pad. Blue Origin’s BE-4 engines worked as advertised, and coupled with GEM solid rocket boosters, the first stage hoisted the payload towards space flawlessly. The second stage was also up to its task, and performed two major burns on time and for their full duration.
At 3:17 am EST, Astrobiotics established communications with the Peregrine spacecraft, and now in space, Peregrine will continue on its journey to the moon and the NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services mission can begin in earnest. While Astrobiotics work is just beginning, ULA and Blue Origin can take deep satisfaction in the first mission of Vulcan being an unqualified success.
Today’s launch marks the first successful orbital launch of the methalox-powered American rocket. Chinese company LandSpace successfully orbited the payload with its Zuque-2 rocket in July of 2023. The Relativity and SpaceX attempts were test flights, with no customer payloads aboard, while Vulcan will have at least two customers with assets on the first flight of Vulcan.
Vulcan is the first rocket designed wholly by United Launch Alliance. The Delta and Atlas family of rockets were legacy designs created by Boeing and Lockheed Martin respectively prior to the founding of the company in 2006. ULA is a joint venture between the two aerospace giants, and has successfully launched more than 155 missions since its inception.
Everything Still Looking Good For Vulcan Launch Tonight
photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
For United Launch Alliance, at least nine years of hard work will be put to the test when their new Vulcan rocket leaves the launch pad and heads towards space. The rocket was first announced in 2015, several months after the company forged a partnership with Blue Origin to develop engines to power a new booster platform. Since that time, the company has worked steadily on building their new rocket, Vulcan. At the time of this writing, ULA states that they are ready to launch Vulcan, and the latest forecasts from the 45th Weather Wing give an 85% chance of acceptable flight conditions. All of that work will be put to the ultimate test at 2:18 am tomorrow morning when Vulcan lifts off of SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
ULA’s Vulcan Passes Critical Wet Dress Rehearsal Test
United Launch Alliance conducted a second Wet Dress Rehearsal test for its new Vulcan rocket on December 12, 2023 at the company’s launch pad on the Cape Canaveral Space Force station. According to CEO Tory Bruno, the results were successful, clearing the way for Vulcan’s inaugural launch early next month.
Atlas V – GOES-T Launch, March 1, 2022
United Launch Alliance launched the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-T advanced weather satellite for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at 4:28pm local time on an Atlas V 541 from Space Launch Complex (SLC)-41 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS).
Photo ©2022 Charles Boyer / Creative Commons-Attribution license
You can clearly see the strap-on boosters falling away from the main rocket — this is not an uncommon sight when the lighting is right.
Photo ©2022 Charles Boyer / Creative Commons-Attribution license
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