ULA’s Vulcan set to launch on second certification flight

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Currently scheduled to launch on Friday, Oct. 4, the United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) heavy-lift Vulcan rocket is ready to fly on its second certification mission for the United States Space Force. The mission, named Certification Flight 2 or simply Cert-2, is expected to launch from Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida during a three-hour launch window that opens at 6:00 AM EDT (10:00 UTC).

Assuming a successful launch into orbit, Vulcan will be certified by the United States Space Force (USSF) to carry national security payloads, some of which are already featured on Vulcan’s manifest. Vulcan was originally intended to loft Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spaceplane named Tenacity to the ISS; however, Sierra Space and ULA announced earlier this year that Dream Chaser teams would need more time for testing and flight preparations. Now, Vulcan will be launching with a mass simulator payload, as well as experiments and technology demonstrations that may be incorporated into future missions

Vulcan arrived at Cape Canaveral on July 27 aboard ULA’s cargo ship Rocket Ship from the company’s factory in Decatur, Alabama. Vulcan’s first stage is 5.4 m in diameter and 33.3 m in length and is constructed of orthogrid aluminum barrels and spun-formed aluminum domes with a common bulkhead. The modular stage is powered by two cryogenic methane and liquid oxygen-powered BE-4 engines manufactured by Blue Origin.

For this mission, Vulcan will fly in the two solid rocket booster (SRB) configuration and loft the mass simulator into low-Earth orbit atop the Centaur V upper stage. After performing maneuvers to exercise Centaur V’s delta-V, endurance, and attitude control, Centaur and its payload will be safely disposed of into a graveyard orbit. The payload will not be released from the stage.

“This mission design will inject into a circular mid-inclination low-Earth park orbit followed by a second burn to inject the inert payload into a hyperbolic orbit such that it will never return to Earth,” ULA said, who has described the flight profile as “Cert-2 Earth Escape.”

Assuming that this certification flight is successful and Vulcan is granted certification by the USSF, Vulcan will launch USSF-106 and USSF-87, two critical national security missions, into orbit later this year. Vulcan’s first launch was on Jan. 8 of this year, sending the Peregrine Mission One spacecraft to the Moon. The Vulcan’s first flight was deemed to be a complete success.

Vulcan streaks into the sky on its first mission in January. (Credit: Stephen Marr for NSF)

Vulcan was transported to the Vertical Integration Facility G (VIF-G) at SLC-41 on Aug. 10, where it was maneuvered into a vertical position atop the Vertical Launch Platform (VLP) — an integrated launch pad and tower — before being mated with the two Graphite Epoxy Motors (GEM) 63XL SRBs. The two strap-on boosters add almost one million pounds of thrust to that generated by the two BE-4 engines on Vulcan’s first stage.

The Centaur V upper stage, which is 11.7 meters tall and 5.4 meters in diameter, was stacked atop the first stage on Aug. 20. Centaur provides guidance and flight management to the booster throughout the flight and also provides the payload interface. Powered by two RL10C-1-1A engines, each providing 23,825 pounds of thrust, Centaur is fueled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

The encapsulated mass simulator payload was stacked atop Centaur on Sep. 21. ULA’s CEO Tory Bruno indicated that even at this late in the launch process, experiments and instruments were still being added to the payload. This was a consequence of the late decision to carry a mass simulator that required no data channels and gave ULA additional bandwidth for monitoring the rocket and engines. The payload will be encapsulated in the standard 15.5-meter-long fairing configuration.

“We have several experiments that are technology demonstrations and measurements that are associated with ULA’s high performance, longer duration version of Centaur V that ULA will be introducing in the future. These help speed up Centaur V development,” said Bruno.

Following the rocket’s successful stacking at the VIF-G, Vulcan was rolled out to SLC-41 on the VLP, carried on a pair of diesel-electric-powered railroad trains running on parallel tracks, on Sept. 30. Once at SLC-41, the VLP was lowered onto its support pads and secured, allowing the trains to withdraw.

On Tuesday, Oct. 1, ULA performed a wet dress rehearsal (WDR) with Vulcan at the pad at SLC-41.  During the WDR, the rocket was fully fuelled and prepared as if for launch, running the countdown procedure right down to the point just before the engines ignite. This test was also part of the certification process and is the last major hurdle to be cleared before the rocket is ready to fly.

Following the WDR, ULA announced on Oct. 2 that the tests had been successful and that Vulcan and ULA teams are on track for a Friday launch. Teams will also conduct a launch readiness review, which will give Vulcan the final “go” for launch.

Unlike Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, Vulcan is not currently reusable, and there are no plans to return any of the rocket’s components flying on this mission. However, ULA is continuing to pursue SMART reuse with Vulcan, and Bruno recently stated that a preliminary design review in regard to SMART reuse was completed at the beginning of the year. Additionally, Bruno said that ULA is likely one to two years away from the first Vulcan flight with SMART reuse.

(Lead image: ULA’s Cert-2 Vulcan stands atop SLC-41. Credit: Max Evans for NSF)

The post ULA’s Vulcan set to launch on second certification flight appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.



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