{"id":37960,"date":"2019-07-28T17:27:10","date_gmt":"2019-07-28T09:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/ula-delays-focused-on-protecting-its-100-percent-mission-success-rate\/"},"modified":"2019-07-28T17:27:10","modified_gmt":"2019-07-28T09:27:10","slug":"ula-delays-focused-on-protecting-its-100-percent-mission-success-rate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/ula-delays-focused-on-protecting-its-100-percent-mission-success-rate\/","title":{"rendered":"ULA delays focused on protecting its 100 percent mission success rate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Advanced Extremely High Frequency 5 (AEHF-5) mission for the U.S. Air Force has been delayed twice now, pushing its scheduled launch back over a month. The new launch date is now targeted for NET August 8th, according to ULA. However, while the delays are undesirable, they follow a roadmap of ULA\u2019s insistence on utilizing an abundance of caution to achieve mission success.<\/p>\n<p>The AEHF satellites are operated by the Air Force Space Command and built by Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Their goal is to provide secure and reliable communications to deployed U.S. and allied armed forces across the globe.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"widget-title penci-border-arrow\">See Also<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>ULA Section<\/li>\n<li>Future Vehicles Section<\/li>\n<li>Click here to Join L2<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The reason they are named Advanced Extremely High Frequency is that they use very high operational frequencies, with the up-links being at 44 gigahertz and the down-links being at 20 gigahertz.<\/p>\n<p>The constellation will consist of six satellites in geostationary earth orbit, which will enable secure and constant strategic communications across a wide range of areas.<\/p>\n<p>The original launch date for AEHF-5 was June 27th, 2019. On June 23rd ULA announced that AEHF-5 was delayed due to a vehicle battery failure discovered during final processing.<\/p>\n<p>Five days later, on June 28th, ULA tweeted that the launch would be moved to July 17th. Then on July 11th ULA tweeted that the launch would be delayed yet again to NET August 8th.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: static; visibility: visible; width: 250px; height: 361px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=NASASpaceflight&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-1&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1149411269855862785&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nasaspaceflight.com%2F2019%2F07%2Fula-delays-protecting-100-percent-success%2F&amp;sessionId=dfd4e09858ae07bc3bcf0cedcb04249a17f9f173&amp;siteScreenName=NASASpaceflight&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\" data-tweet-id=\"1149411269855862785\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This time the issue was cited as \u201can anomaly during component testing at a supplier which has created a cross-over concern.\u201d This places the launch more than a month away from its original date.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX launch tickets<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>Space Shuttle<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>Technology News<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>\n<p>     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n<p>This issue would also end up delaying the GPS III SV02 launch aboard a Delta IV six days later for the same reason. This can likely be attributed to the rockets both sharing the same questionable part.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-62442\" class=\"size-full wp-image-62442\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/NSF-2019-07-28-16-05-02-396.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1566\" height=\"868\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/NSF-2019-07-28-16-05-02-396.jpg 1566w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/NSF-2019-07-28-16-05-02-396-350x194.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/NSF-2019-07-28-16-05-02-396-630x350.jpg 630w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/NSF-2019-07-28-16-05-02-396-768x426.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/NSF-2019-07-28-16-05-02-396-1170x649.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1566px) 100vw, 1566px\"><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-62442\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Delta IV launch photo by Nathan Barker for NSF<\/p>\n<p>ULA CEO Tory Bruno tweeted \u201cAnother of the same part failed a test at a supplier.\u201d He later added, \u201cThis demands that all parts are suspect until we can prove otherwise.\u201d Bruno indicated that even if the part was considered good when they acquired it, they would still investigate it to make sure it didn\u2019t fail, given one did fail during a supplier test.<\/p>\n<p>This sequence of events is a good example of why maintaining reliability is a very important philosophy in the commercial launch business.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-2\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 281px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=NASASpaceflight&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-2&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1151549257461092352&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nasaspaceflight.com%2F2019%2F07%2Fula-delays-protecting-100-percent-success%2F&amp;sessionId=dfd4e09858ae07bc3bcf0cedcb04249a17f9f173&amp;siteScreenName=NASASpaceflight&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\" data-tweet-id=\"1151549257461092352\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The Atlas V has been in service for more than 15 years with a \u201c100% mission success rate\u201d according to ULA. It has had two partial failures where it didn\u2019t perform nominally, but not to an extent that caused the mission to fail.<\/p>\n<p>The first partial failure was the June 15th, 2007 launch of an Atlas V 401 which was launching ULA\u2019s first National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) mission \u2013 NRO L-30. The rocket put the pair of satellites into a lower than desired orbit due to an issue with the Centaur upper stage, but NRO declared the mission a success after the payloads used their dedicated propulsion systems to reach the correct orbit.<\/p>\n<p>The other \u201cpartial failure\u201d (at the extreme end of the classification given the ultimate orbit insertion was correct) was the Cygnus CRS OA-6 mission on-board another Atlas V 401 which launched on March 23rd, 2016. The first stage engine shut down prematurely causing the Centaur upper stage and Cygnus to be in a lower than desired altitude. The Centaur had to burn longer to compensate for this, but the mission still succeeded with the Centaur upper stage being able to make up for the lost burn time. The Cygnus would go on to successfully dock with the ISS three days later.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"FULL Cygnus OA-6 on ULA Atlas 5 AV-064 launch to ISS, release and solar array deployment coverage\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3ohSpuGSh3o?start=3960&amp;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\" name=\"fitvid0\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Looking at the numbers the Atlas V has a 100% mission success rate while also having a 97% vehicle success rate, spanning a total of 79 launches. ULA notes that they manage this by taking an abundance of precaution with each launch and not being afraid to set things back to fix small issues.<\/p>\n<p>Going back to Atlas V launches from 2016 and 2017, there were eight reported delays from 19 launches that lasted more than a day, and these delays were only related to vehicle or ground service issues \u2013 omitting weather and customer-related delays. ULA routinely claims to be the most on-time launch provider in the United States. And while true, analysis of the past few launches shows a 42% scrub delay rate.<\/p>\n<p>ULA makes it clear that they would rather take the delay than suffer the failure, even if it means delaying almost half their Atlas V launches in a two-year window.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-62443\" class=\"wp-image-62443 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/i-S39MnP6-X3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/i-S39MnP6-X3.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/i-S39MnP6-X3-350x233.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/i-S39MnP6-X3-525x350.jpg 525w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/i-S39MnP6-X3-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/i-S39MnP6-X3-1170x780.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/i-S39MnP6-X3-585x390.jpg 585w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/i-S39MnP6-X3-263x175.jpg 263w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-62443\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">MUOS-4 successfully launched by ULA\u2019s Atlas V \u2013 Photo by Mike Deep for NSF<\/p>\n<p>Another aspect of reliability could be attributed to the common core booster that all Atlas V\u2019s share. The number of solid rocket boosters, upper stage engines, and the fairing size may change depending on the customer\u2019s needs, but in the end, the core rocket will always be the same. This helps reduce complexity and ensures every core is made the same for every launch, every time.<\/p>\n<p>In the future, the ULA Vulcan Centaur is set to replace the Atlas V and Delta IV in the 2020s. It is likely to utilize the common core booster approach, albeit with a much more modular upper stage. There will be another change via the rocket utilizing liquid methane and liquid oxygen instead of RP-1 and liquid oxygen.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Vulcan Centaur: Purpose-Built for National Security Space\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UVblBykNvdw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\" name=\"fitvid1\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Also, with the proposal of the Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage (ACES), the system will become more complicated with the introduction of an augmented upper stage. There are also plans to try and recover the BE-4 first stage engines from the Vulcan, which will add even more complexity to the rocket.<\/p>\n<p>ULA\u2019s Atlas V success portfolio is an achievement in and of itself. The challenge will be to continue this record of 100 percent mission success when they retire the hugely successful rocket.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Advanced Extremely High Frequency 5 (AEHF-5) mission for the U.S. Air Force has been delayed twice now, pushing its scheduled launch back over a month. The new launch date is now targeted for NET August 8th, according to ULA. However, while the delays are undesirable, they follow a roadmap of ULA\u2019s insistence on utilizing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37961,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2302,7758,8296,363,364],"class_list":["post-37960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-aehf","tag-atlas-v","tag-delta-iv","tag-ula","tag-vulcan"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37960"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}