ULA to ship 1st Vulcan Centaur rocket to Cape Canaveral

United Launch Alliance is getting its ducks in a row for the first-ever launch of the new Vulcan Centaur rocket from the Space Coast.

ULA had been awaiting the delivery of the first flight-ready BE-4 engines from Blue Origin, which finally made their way in late 2022 to ULA’s Decatur, Alabama, factory where they were attached to the first stage.

Now teams have slapped on the shrink wrap and loaded the stage onto the company’s R/S RocketShip. The second-stage will soon join it for the 8- to 12-day river and ocean trip for arrival to Cape Canaveral later this month.

ULA President Tory Bruno posted images and video to Twitter of the booster getting loaded onto the ship on Tuesday saying, “#VulcanRocket Booster has boarded the ULA Cruise Line’s URS #RocketShip for his trip to the Cape. I’ll admit that our buffet line is not quite 5 star, but the staterooms are first class all the way (if you’re a rocket, that is).”

It won’t quite be ready for launch on arrival, though, as the payloads for the planned first mission have yet to make it to Florida, and on-site testing is still required, said ULA communications director Jessica Rye.

“Vulcan will undergo a series of flight readiness verification tests including multiple tanking tests and a wet dress rehearsal, culminating in an engine flight readiness firing,” Rye said. “Following the successful final testing, the payloads will be integrated, and the vehicle will be readied for launch.”

The target launch date is still before the end of March, she said. Vulcan will launch from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, the same site from where it launches its Atlas rockets.

Blue Origin faced delays in the delivery of the new engines pushing Vulcan’s first launch into the new year after missing the original 2022 target.

The switch to American-made engines was part of the new U.S. requirements to steer off of Russian-made rocket engines by 2022, something in the works even before Russia invaded Ukraine.

ULA has at least five Vulcan flights planned for 2023 so Blue Origin will need to deliver at least eight more BE-4 engines while also seeking to manufacture BE-4s for its own heavy-lift rocket New Glenn for future launches from Cape Canaveral. New Glenn will use seven BE-4s on each launch, but those rockets are designed to be recovered for reuse.

The second stage of Vulcan Centaur for the first flight will be powered by two Aerojet Rocketdyne RL-10 engines for use in space.

The payloads for the first flight include commercial company Astrobotic’s Peregine lunar lander headed to the moon as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program and a pair of prototype satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper, a planned internet constellation with up to 3,236 satellites similar to the Starlink array from SpaceX. ULA and Blue Origin along with Arianespace have up to 92 launches lined up to support Project Kuiper through 2029.

For 2023, though, ULA has three missions planned for Vulcan for the Department of Defense, but not before at least two certification flights. Also awaiting Vulcan this year is a new commercial cargo supplier to the ISS, Sierra Space and its Dream Chaser spacecraft.

ULA will continue to fly its Atlas V rockets as well with enough of those to support the Commercial Crew Program using Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner. The first crewed test flight of Starliner is slated to fly as early as April with regular rotational missions to be juggled with SpaceX Crew Dragon beginning in 2024.

Amazon also bought up all available Atlas V flights for Project Kuiper.

ULA also has two remaining Delta IV Heavy rockets with one set to fly in 2023 and the final one in 2024. The Vulcan Centaur is replacing both Atlas and Delta rockets for ULA.

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