{"id":10440,"date":"2023-05-17T01:39:25","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T17:39:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/first-vulcan-rocket-rolls-back-to-hangar-for-adjustments-prior-to-test-firing\/"},"modified":"2023-05-17T01:39:25","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T17:39:25","slug":"first-vulcan-rocket-rolls-back-to-hangar-for-adjustments-prior-to-test-firing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/first-vulcan-rocket-rolls-back-to-hangar-for-adjustments-prior-to-test-firing\/","title":{"rendered":"First Vulcan rocket rolls back to hangar for \u2018adjustments\u2019 prior to test-firing"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: <\/strong>Updated May 17 with additional Tory Bruno comments.<\/p>\n

\"\"
United Launch Alliance\u2019s Vulcan rocket rolls out to Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral on May 11. Credit: United Launch Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

United Launch Alliance\u2019s first Vulcan rocket was filled with methane and liquid oxygen propellants at Cape Canaveral last week for a tanking test, but managers decided to move the rocket back inside a hangar for a few adjustments before proceeding with an engine test-firing.<\/p>\n

The Flight Readiness Tanking Test, or FTT, on May 12 was a precursor to the Vulcan rocket\u2019s Flight Readiness Firing, a planned six-second ignition of the launcher\u2019s two Blue Origin-built BE-4 main engines. That test, previously scheduled as soon as Monday, will be delayed at least a few days.<\/p>\n

The tanking test and test-firing follow a series of propellant loading demonstrations on the Vulcan rocket in March. ULA delivered the Vulcan first stage and Centaur upper stage to Cape Canaveral in January for the inaugural Vulcan launch. The launch company completed pathfinder testing on a Vulcan test article at Cape Canaveral in 2021.<\/p>\n

The Vulcan rocket will replace ULA\u2019s Atlas and Delta rocket families, which have their roots in the early years of space exploration more than 60 years ago. ULA is a 50-50 joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing, which merged their Atlas and Delta rocket programs in 2006. The Vulcan rocket will fly in several configurations, with varying numbers of strap-on solid rocket boosters and different payload fairing sizes available on each flight, depending on mission requirements.<\/p>\n

A ULA spokesperson said the company\u2019s engineers \u201ccollected excellent data\u201d during the May 12 tanking test, which mimicked a launch countdown with holds, readiness polls, and other milestones.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on the test, there are several parameters that will be adjusted prior to conducting the Flight Readiness Firing,\u201d the ULA spokesperson said in a statement. \u201cWe are rolling back to the Vertical Integration Facility, where our access is better and the vehicle is protected to isolate and perform those adjustments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riding a mobile launch platform, the Vulcan rocket rolled off the launch pad and back into the Vertical Integration Facility, or VIF, on Monday, a journey on rail tracks stretching about a third of a mile. The same hangar and launch pad are used by ULA\u2019s Atlas 5 rocket, but the company built a new launch platform specifically designed for Vulcan.<\/p>\n

Tory Bruno, ULA\u2019s chief executive, said engineers will adjust a setting associated with ground hydraulic pressure, change the topping rate for liquid oxygen, and adjust the flow of purge and chill gases to the BE-4 engine igniters. \u201cAll normal stuff,\u201d Bruno said, adding that the tanking test May 12 was intended to uncover such issues.<\/p>\n

\"\"
ULA stacked the first stage for the first Vulcan rocket test flight onto a mobile launch platform Jan. 25 inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Credit: United Launch Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Vulcan rocket sports a colorful paint job with a bright red flame emblazoned on the side of the 17.7-foot-side (5.4-meter) first stage. For the tanking tests and the Flight Readiness Firing, the Vulcan rocket is not fitted with any solid rocket boosters or a payload fairing. Once the test-firing is complete, ULA will install two of the Northrop Grumman-built solid-fueled boosters and the payload shroud supplied by Beyond Gravity, formerly known as Ruag Space.<\/p>\n

The Vulcan rocket\u2019s inaugural flight will be the first first launch to use new methane-fueled BE-4 engines from Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos. At full throttle, each BE-4 engine can generate about 550,000 pounds of thrust. Two of them will power each Vulcan core stage, with zero, two, four, or six solid rocket boosters to add thrust in the first couple of minutes of flight.<\/p>\n

The Vulcan rocket\u2019s Centaur upper stage, called the Centaur 5, is an upgrade to the upper stages currently flying on ULA\u2019s Atlas 5 rocket. The Centaur 5 has a wider diameter to accommodate larger cryogenic hydrogen and oxygen propellant tanks, along with two Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10 engines. The Centaur flying on the Atlas 5 rocket typically flies with a single engine.<\/p>\n

Once all of the Vulcan rocket configurations are operational, the new rocket will fully replace and grow the lift capability currently offered by all of ULA\u2019s rockets. The largest Vulcan rocket variant, with a single core stage, will have more payload lift capability than ULA\u2019s Delta 4-Heavy, which has three liquid-fueled first stage boosters connected together.<\/p>\n

Eventually, ULA plans to recover the reuse BE-4 engines from Vulcan launches, but not the entire first stage.<\/p>\n

ULA unveiled the Vulcan rocket in 2015, then targeting a first launch of the new vehicle in 2019. The company selected Blue Origin\u2019s BE-4 engine for the first stage propulsion system in 2018. At that time, ULA aimed to launch the first Vulcan test flight in 2020.<\/p>\n

But delays, primarily caused by issues discovered in BE-4 engine production and testing, forced the first Vulcan test flight to slip several years.<\/p>\n