I’ve been reading up on this a bit. Apparently, the Vulcan Centaur is the ULA’s new rocket which replaces Russian RD-180 engines with BE-4s they sourced from Blue Origin. Blue Origin themselves are working on their New Glenn rocket which will use these engines. It’s interesting that the ULA (United Launch Alliance: Boeing and Lockheed’s rocket company) got to try them out first.
It’s also interesting that they are powered by methane. If I’m not mistaken, this is the first successful launch of a methane rocket? SpaceX’s Starship also uses methane engines. Apparently, they have a number of advantages over the more traditional kerosene. For example, they don’t leave any residue that can gunk up the works and affect reusability. I am not an expert on any of this, however, so feel free to correct me.
I am an expert on all of this in general and worked on Vulcan specifically for a long time. You did a good job of summarizing. The only correction is we don’t say “the ULA,” just ULA. It’s a company name, not really an alliance. Boeing and Lockheed have no real say in how things go at ULA (though they might have financial stakes??). It’s more of a new company created by spinning off both of the two respective launch divisions into one company.
Thanks for the clarification. ULA it is then.
But wow, that’s so cool that you got to work on Vulcan! Must be a huge relief that it aced its inaugural launch given all the new tech in there. I hope you’re out celebrating someplace. You’ve earned it! :)
China had a successful methane powered rocket launch in 2023
Oh you’re right, the Zhuque-2 apparently launched successfully in July, 2023. (There had been an earlier launch in '22 but it ran into trouble.)
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Vulcan is designed to replace two older rockets, and the United States Space Force is also counting on it to launch spy satellites and other spacecraft that are important for U.S. national security.
Seventeen Atlas V launches remain, but the rocket uses Russian-built engines, which became more politically untenable with the rise of tensions between Russia and the United States.
That has spurred a protest from the leaders of the Navajo Nation, who say that many Native Americans consider the moon to be a sacred place, and that they consider sending human remains there to be desecration.
John Thornton, the chief executive of Astrobotic, said on Friday that he was disappointed that “this conversation came up so late in the game,” because his company had announced the participation of Celestis and Elysium years ago.
NASA announced the program to tap on private industry for moon deliveries — called Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, for short — in 2018.
A second CLPS mission, by Intuitive Machines of Houston, is scheduled to launch as early as mid-February and take a quicker path to the moon, meaning it could reach the surface before Peregrine.
The original article contains 1,520 words, the summary contains 192 words. Saved 87%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Commercial space launches are gonna be chockablock full of stuff like these ridiculous Celeste craft huh?
Great that Vulcan worked well, though, its good if there’s more launch vehicles, but shame about some of the missions.
Commercial space launches are gonna be chockablock full of stuff like these ridiculous Celeste craft huh?
I see that as a good thing. Being able to commercialise space launches will provide the infrastructure we’re going to need to really get into space.
Yeah, just wish it was for useful stuff instead of sending human remains to the moon or space tourism.
This will get us to the useful stuff! Every new technological field was unlocked as toys for the rich first, this is no different.
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It was the maiden flight. First flights don’t always go so well, so it is not at all surprising that it wasn’t carrying a space telescope, or the like.
Still, the next flight will be carrying the first flight of a vehicle designed to resupply the space station, if that makes you feel any better