Defense One by Audrey Decker 7/13/2023
United Launch Alliance will fly its much-anticipated heavy-lift rocket by the end of this year—and targets 2024 for its first mission with the U.S. Space Force.
Development on the Vulcan Centaur rocket is “essentially done. All the components of the rocket including the booster have been qualified, with the exception of one single item, which is the qualification of the structure of the Centaur V,” ULA CEO Tory Bruno told reporters Thursday.
ULA launched an investigation after a qualification test in March caused an explosion at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama.
Bruno said the Centaur upper stage suffered an “anomaly” after a hydrogen leak developed about halfway through its 15th test run, due to ULA using a new “laser weld” on the rocket’s seams. The strength of these laser welds is “less than we had assessed,” Bruno said.
“That in itself would not have caused a failure. However, the two things together, higher loads [and] somewhat lower strength in the welds are what caused the crack to begin,” he said.
More:
https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2023/07/ulas-first-vulcan-launch-pushed-end-year/388503/
