Vulcan – Page 6 – Spaceflight Now

Blue Origin encounters setback in BE-4 engine testing

May 15, 2017 Stephen Clark

Blue Origin said Sunday that it lost a set of powerpack hardware for its BE-4 engine during a ground test mishap, dealing at least a minor setback to the development of a powerful U.S.-made propulsion system that United Launch Alliance says is the leading candidate to power the first stage of its next-generation Vulcan rocket.

ULA chief says Blue Origin in driver’s seat for Vulcan engine deal

April 18, 2017 Stephen Clark

A full-scale BE-4 engine developed by Blue Origin, the space company founded by Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos, is installed on a test stand in West Texas for a series of hotfire tests that United Launch Alliance will closely examine before settling on the reusable methane-fueled engine for its new-generation Vulcan rocket.

Swiss company to build Vulcan fairings, composite structures

April 14, 2016 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance plans to introduce a new payload fairing design on the next-generation Vulcan rocket, which will fly with composite parts made by Switzerland-based Ruag Space, the company’s chief executive said Wednesday.

Q&A with Tory Bruno, president and chief executive of ULA

April 14, 2016 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance chief executive Tory Bruno spoke with Spaceflight Now’s Stephen Clark at the 32nd Space Symposium in Colorado Springs.

SpaceX hopes to sell used Falcon 9 boosters for as low as $40 million

March 31, 2016 Stephen Clark

SpaceX intends to cut the price of a Falcon 9 rocket launch by up to 30 percent when flying with reused first stage boosters, an achievement the company still hopes to demonstrate before the end of the year, SpaceX’s president said recently.

Reviewers approve early design work on new Vulcan rocket

March 24, 2016 Justin Ray

Work to create a new all-American rocket, the United Launch Alliance Vulcan-Centaur, has passed its first major hurdle for its first flight in three years, officials announced Thursday.

ULA’s candidates to replace RD-180 engine win Air Force funding

March 7, 2016 Stephen Clark

The Pentagon has awarded at least $162 million in contracts to Aerojet Rocketdyne and United Launch Alliance for development of the AR1 and BE-4 rocket engines, candidates to power the first stage of a next-generation rocket and replace the Russian-made engine currently flying on the Atlas 5 launcher.

Orbital ATK, SpaceX nab U.S. Air Force propulsion contracts

January 14, 2016 Stephen Clark

Orbital ATK and SpaceX won Pentagon contracts worth a combined value of up to $241 million Wednesday in public-private partnerships crafted to hasten the U.S. military’s move away from Russian-supplied propulsion to deliver national security satellites to orbit.

Q&A with Tory Bruno, ULA’s chief executive

October 13, 2015 Stephen Clark

Tory Bruno has held the top post at United Launch Alliance for a little more than a year, and it has been anything but business as usual for the top U.S. launch provider. He recently spoke with reporters at ULA’s Cape Canaveral launch control center.

ULA selects launch pads for new Vulcan rocket

October 12, 2015 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance’s next-generation Vulcan rocket will lift off from the company’s existing Atlas 5 launch facilities in Florida and California, according to the company’s Vulcan program manager.