Space.com by Mike Wall 6/27/2023
The company will destack the heavy lifter and ship the upper stage back to the factory for modifications.The road to liftoff for United Launch Alliance's (ULA) new Vulcan Centaur rocket just got a little longer.
The first Vulcan Centaur aced a crucial engine firing earlier this month at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, taking a big step toward its debut launch.
But the vehicle will now take a step back: ULA plans to destack the rocket and ship the upper stage back to its factory in Decatur, Alabama, company representatives said in an emailed update on Saturday (June 24).
The move stems from ULA's investigation into an incident that occurred on March 29, when a Centaur exploded on a test stand at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama after experiencing a hydrogen leak.
The company has now determined the root cause of the anomaly as well as the required corrective action, which explains the destacking plan.
"Centaur's thin-walled pressure stabilized tanks require minor reinforcement at the top of the forward dome prior to flight," ULA representatives wrote in the June 24 update.
More:
https://www.space.com/ula-delays-launch-vulcan-centaur-rocket-modifications
