United Launch Alliance (ULA) is nearing completion of thir development of the nexgen Vulcan Centaur launch vehicle and the company has set the path for the first launch early next year.
ULA is proceeding to a first flight of Vulcan during Q1 2023 to align with a request from payload customer Astrobotic, who will be flying their Peregrine lunar lander to the Moon for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.
This commercial mission is part of ULA’s requirement to meet the U.S. Space Force certification of its new launch vehicle. Mark Peller, vice president of Major Development, said, “We are committed to ensuring we fly the first certification mission and stay on schedule to achieve U.S. Space Force certification of Vulcan in advance of our first national security space mission in the 4th quarter of 2023.”
In addition to the Astrobotic and Celestis payloads, Vulcan will carry two demonstration satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper.
The first Vulcan launch vehicle is nearing completion in ULA’s factory in Decatur, Alabama, and is awaiting installation of BE-4 engines that have been developed by Blue Origin. The company’s expectation is to ship the completed vehicle to the launch site in November.
Once at Cape Canaveral SFS, Vulcan will undergo a final series of tests to verify its readiness for flight consisting of multiple tanking tests and a wet dress rehearsal, culminating in flight readiness firing in December, which will be the final step prior to launch. Following the successful final testing, Astrobotic and the other payloads will be installed on the launch vehicle.
“We could not be more excited to be this close to seeing Vulcan lift off on its inaugural flight,” said Tory Bruno, ULA’s president and CEO. “Vulcan’s high energy design coupled with innovative technology provides one scalable system for all missions and will transform the future of space launch. This has been an incredible journey to get to this point and I am so proud of the development team. We look forward to the first flight as Vulcan offers all customers higher performance and greater affordability while continuing to deliver our unmatched reliability.”
Leveraging a legacy of 100 percent mission success launching more than 150 missions to explore, protect and enhance our world, ULA is the nation’s most experienced and reliable launch service provider with world-leading reliability, schedule confidence, and mission optimization. We deliver value unmatched by any launch services company in the industry, a tireless drive to improve, and commitment to the extraordinary.
