May the Fourth be with you
Delayed rocket gets a launch date- Hey Bezos!
What would you expect a bunch of space journalists to mention when a company says it will launch on May 4th?
That is the date you will start hearing much more about a new rocket called the Vulcan.
The partnership of Lockheed and Boeing, known as United Launch Alliance (ULA), has once again delayed its launch of its new, big rocket that could prove critical for the government and others. Vulcan is a heavy-lift launch vehicle, which means it can carry large payloads to orbit. ULA has contracts with Space Force and NASA to carry important cargo to space.
ULA had promised its new rocket would be ready in the “1st quarter of 2023.” Now, the CEO of ULA says it will be May 4th for the first launch of the Vulcan.
ULA is battling two obstacles. First, it is carrying a lunar lander for Astrobotic. To get to the Moon, one has to launch at a specific time. It’s called orbital dynamics, which means launching something at a specific moment to reach a specific point with the least energy needed.
While the Vulcan may be ready in mid-April, that would be too late to make a window to the Moon. So, ULA is moving to May 4th to help one of its three payloads complete its mission.
The second obstacle involves Jeff Bezos and his space company, Blue Origin. Bezos has not made orbit yet with his vehicles. Blue Origin does have big plans, which rely on its rocket engine known as the BE-4. The Blue Origin planned orbital rocket is named after astronaut John Glenn- it’s called New Glenn.
ULA will be the first to use Bezos’ engine to power this new Vulcan rocket. Some of those engines were delivered last fall to ULA. ULA has been putting these engines through their paces. Everything looked good early, but some new engines arrived and, when they were tested, there was an anomaly. Some of the engines started sending 5% more oxygen into the combustion chamber.
Now, this is not a “show stopper,” but ULA wants to understand what is happening. CEO Tory Bruno told reporters last week that he thinks, “this is simply likely unit to unit variation.” ULA will perform more testing to make sure this engine will perform and protect its reputational record, “of a legacy of 100 percent mission success.”
This rocket has a long history. The partnership started development in 2014. Nearly a decade later the launch date has been set. ULA has big plans for this rocket.
Bruno says he hopes for two launches this year and at least four flights in 2024. Then the CEO says ULA will really ramp up its pace of launches. By the end of 2025, Bruno says they hope to be launching every two weeks. It’s an ambitious schedule for the company.
ULA is also talking about reusabilty. Not in the SpaceX/Elon Musk way of bringing a booster back to Earth and landing it. ULA wants to save Jeff Bezos’ BE-4 engines. We have explored this “partial reusability” concept before here in Full Throttle. But, Bruno made it clear that is going to happen in, “a handful of years.” He said he wouldn’t say when because it’s part of a contract with a customer.
This now nine-year effort to put a new rocket on the pad comes down to a day in May. May the Fourth be with you.
First to the moon in my lifetime; back to the moon in my lifetime! Wow!!!
Great piece. I love space stuff! This is beyond cool. Thanks for the update!