Vulcan (rocket)
A simulated expanded view of the 561-configuration Vulcan rocket.
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| Function | Partly-reusable launch vehicle |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | ULA |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Size | |
| Diameter | 5.4 m (18 ft) |
| Stages | 2 |
| Launch history | |
| Status | In development |
| Launch sites |
Cape Canaveral SLC-41 Vandenberg SLC-3E |
| First flight | 2019 (planned) |
| Boosters | |
| No. boosters | 0-6 |
| Motor | GEM 63XL |
| Fuel | HTPB |
| First stage | |
| Diameter | 5.4 m (18 ft) (BE-4 option), or 3.81 m (12.5 ft) (AR1 option) |
| Engines | 2 BE-4 or AR1 |
| Thrust | 4,900 kN (1,100,000 lbf) |
| Fuel | CH4 or RP-1 / LOX |
| Second stage - Centaur (initial flights, late-2010s) | |
| Engines | 1 RL10-C |
| Thrust | 103.8 kN (23,300 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 448.5 seconds (4.398 km/s) |
| Fuel | LH2 / LOX |
| Second stage - ACES (proposed, mid-2020s) | |
| Engines | 4 RL10-C or 1 BE-3 or XR-8H21 XCOR engine (TBC) |
| Fuel | LH2 / LOX |
The Vulcan rocket is an American heavy-payload launch vehicle under development since 2014 by United Launch Alliance (ULA), funded by a public–private partnership with the US government. ULA expects the first launch of the new rocket to occur no earlier than 2019.
To date, the ULA board of directors has made only short-term (quarterly) funding commitments to the rocket development project, and it is unclear if long-term private funding will be available to finish the project. As of March 2016, the US government has committed US$201 million to Vulcan development, and ULA is working to obtain additional government funding for development of the launch vehicle.
ULA had considered several launch vehicle concepts in the decade since the company was formed in 2006. Various concepts for derivative vehicles based on the Atlas and Delta lines of launch vehicles they inherited from their predecessor companies were presented to the US government for funding. None were funded beyond concept stage.
In early 2014, geopolitical and US political considerations involving international sanctions during the Ukrainian crisis, led to an effort by ULA to consider possibly replacing the Russian-supplied RD-180 engine used on the first stage booster of the Atlas V. Formal study contracts were issued by ULA in June 2014 to several US rocket engine suppliers. ULA was also facing competition from SpaceX — then seen to affect its core national security market of US military launches — and by July 2014, the United States Congress was debating whether to legislate a ban on future use of the RD-180.
In September 2014, ULA announced that it had entered into a partnership with Blue Origin to develop the BE-4 liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid methane (CH4) engine to replace the RD-180 on a new first stage booster. The engine was already in its third year of development by Blue Origin, and ULA said it expected the new stage and engine to start flying no earlier than 2019. Two of the 2,400-kilonewton (550,000 lbf)-thrust BE-4 engines were to be used on a new launch vehicle booster.
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Wikipedia