{"id":50720,"date":"2023-07-13T20:24:35","date_gmt":"2023-07-13T20:24:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2023\/07\/13\/first-vulcan-flight-pushed-to-end-of-year-united-launch-alliance-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:30:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:30:59","slug":"first-vulcan-flight-pushed-to-end-of-year-united-launch-alliance-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2023\/07\/13\/first-vulcan-flight-pushed-to-end-of-year-united-launch-alliance-says\/","title":{"rendered":"First Vulcan flight pushed to end of year, United Launch Alliance says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 A testing setback will delay the first flight of United Launch Alliance\u2019s Vulcan rocket to the end of the year, the company\u2019s CEO told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Denver-based <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/battlefield-tech\/space\/2023\/02\/24\/united-launch-alliance-vulcan-centaur-rocket-debut-pushed-to-may\/\" target=\"_blank\">ULA expected the launch to occur in early May<\/a>, but recovery from a March testing anomaly ha taken longer than anticipated. CEO Tory Bruno told reporters during a July 13 media briefing ULA has identified the root cause and is in the process of incorporating a fix, but the rocket won\u2019t fly before the end of this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe corrective action is low risk, straightforward,\u201d he said, adding that the production is moving smoothly at the company\u2019s factory. \u201cThat will allow us to fly before the end of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ULA, along with Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX, is one of two companies with rockets cleared to fly national security space missions for the U.S. Defense Department and the intelligence community. The company is in the process of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/battlefield-tech\/space\/2022\/03\/03\/us-air-force-not-concerned-about-russias-decision-to-halt-rocket-engine-sales-support\/\" target=\"_blank\">replacing its legacy Atlas V and Delta IV vehicles<\/a> \u2014 longtime workhorse rockets for the U.S. government \u2014 with the more powerful Vulcan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The company previously expected Vulcan to begin flying national security missions in 2022, following certification by the Space Force that the rocket is cleared to fly high-value missions. Repeated delays \u2014 many involving the rocket\u2019s BE-4 engine built by Blue Origin \u2014 have slowed the certification process, which includes a requirement that Vulcan fly two missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most recent schedule setback, Bruno said, means Vulcan won\u2019t be available to fly its first national security mission until mid-2024 \u2014 and that\u2019s if all goes smoothly for the rocket over the next year. Prior to the test anomaly, the company was slated to launch the Space Force\u2019s USSF-106 mission at the end of this year, which will feature a classified program as well as an experimental navigation satellite dubbed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/battlefield-tech\/space\/2022\/07\/06\/air-force-research-lab-begins-integration-testing-for-experimental-navigation-satellite\/\" target=\"_blank\">Navigation Technology Satellite-3, or NTS-3<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bruno said the plan to host USSF-106 on a Vulcan rocket had not changed. The Space Force did not immediately confirm whether ULA\u2019s vehicle would still fly the mission or provide details on the implications for the programs supported by USSF-106.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That includes NTS-3 \u2013 a key demonstration for the Space Force as it considers ways to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/battlefield-tech\/space\/2019\/12\/31\/more-than-a-testbed-how-an-experimental-satellite-will-help-the-war-fighter\/\" target=\"_blank\">augment its GPS satellites with new capabilities<\/a>. The L3Harris-built spacecraft is meant to showcase technologies like steerable beams to provide regional coverage, a reprogrammable payload that can receive upgrades in orbit and protections against signal jamming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Expanding portfolio<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For ULA, the Vulcan flight delay comes as the company is expanding from a manifest dominated by national security and NASA missions to one that is split evenly between government and commercial launches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By the end of 2025, ULA expects to be flying missions every two weeks. Along with its share of national security space launches, the company has won <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/battlefield-tech\/space\/2022\/04\/06\/ula-expects-amazon-deal-to-drive-down-space-forces-vulcan-launch-costs\/\">contracts in the last two years from Amazon to fly 47 launches for its Project Kuiper program<\/a>, a constellation of more than 3,000 satellites that will expand broadband access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bruno said the company\u2019s portfolio is \u201cmuch more balanced\u201d than in years past. ULA\u2019s launch rate has quadrupled, he said, and the new business has helped it fund upgrades to its launch infrastructure and manufacturing facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s allowed us to be lower cost and more efficient because of these capital improvements and how we build and fly the rocket,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is no small trick to quadruple the rate at which you fly rockets. So, we have been managing massive construction projects.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The delay will push the company&#8217;s first Space Force mission to no sooner than the second quarter of 2024, according to ULA CEO Tory Bruno.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":112283,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":23,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,33,36,23],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3468],"class_list":["post-50720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-newsletters","category-space"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"DMLPQIHI2RDZVMWSVKXL5OJSEM","arc_canonical_url":"\/battlefield-tech\/space\/2023\/07\/13\/first-vulcan-flight-pushed-to-end-of-year-united-launch-alliance-says\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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