Tag: GEM-63
-
Atlas 5 launch from Cape Canaveral scheduled for next week
The National Reconnaissance Office’s top secret payload is lifted atop ULA’s Atlas 5 rocket Monday inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Credit: United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance teams mounted a top secret payload for the National Reconnaissance Office on top of an Atlas 5 rocket at Cape Canaveral Monday…
-
Stacking of next Atlas 5 rocket begins at Cape Canaveral
The first stage for ULA’s next Atlas 5 rocket mission was raised on a mobile launch platform Friday at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Credit: United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance technicians positioned the first stage for the next Atlas 5 rocket on a mobile launch platform Friday at Cape Canaveral, a key step in…
-
Northrop Grumman test fires first GEM-63XL motor for ULA’s Vulcan
The first GEM-63XL motor for the ULA Vulcan Centaur’s strap-on boosters was successfully test-fired for approximately 90 seconds, sending 449,000 lbs of thrust along with bright fire, loud noise and vibration into the sunny desert sky on Thursday at Northrop Grumman testing facility in Promontory, Utah. The QM-1 was the first of two test firings…
-
Northrop Grumman test fires first GEM-63XL motor for ULA’s Vulcan
The first GEM-63XL motor for the ULA Vulcan Centaur’s strap-on boosters was successfully test-fired for approximately 90 seconds, sending 449,000 lbs of thrust along with bright fire, loud noise and vibration into the sunny desert sky on Thursday at Northrop Grumman testing facility in Promontory, Utah. The QM-1 was the first of two test firings…
-
Solid rocket motor test-fired for Atlas 5 debut next year
A new solid rocket motor built by Northrop Grumman has aced its final test-firing before a scheduled debut on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket flight next year. Northrop Grumman’s GEM 63 solid rocket motor will replace the Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ-60A solid-fueled booster that has flown on Atlas 5 rockets since 2003. Billed…
-
Orbital ATK beats out Aerojet in ULA booster selection
File photo of Orbital ATK’s GEM-60 solid rocket booster before attachment to a Delta 4 rocket. The Atlas 5 and Vulcan rockets will use an enlarged version of the motor beginning at the end of 2018. Credit: NASA United Launch Alliance has selected Orbital ATK to provide solid rocket boosters for the company’s next-generation Vulcan…