Lower than a month after the second of two deliberate certification launches, United Launch Alliance is getting a Vulcan rocket prepared for its first nationwide safety mission: United States Area Power 106 (USSF-106).
On Monday, ULA shared photographs of the 109.2-foot-long (33.3 m) booster being hoisted into the Vertical Integration Facility to start the stacking course of. Within the days and presumably weeks to come back, the 38.5-foot-long (11.7 m) Centaur 5 higher stage can be added together with 4 strong rocket boosters and the payload fairings.
The start of the rocket’s integration comes because the U.S. Area Power continues to evaluation information from the Cert-2 mission, which launched on Oct. 4 from Area Launch Complicated 41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Area Power Station.
“You don’t need to be licensed earlier than you begin the entire actions which can be concerned in getting a payload prepared and planning its mission and integrating it,” mentioned ULA President and CEO Tory Bruno throughout a media teleconference previous to the launch of Cert-2. “That work is already underway. We simply can’t fly it till we’re licensed and I’d say my buyer can be reluctant to bodily combine it to the rocket, stick it on the rocket till that’s performed both.”
Throughout an Oct. 14 look on the Worldwide Astronautical Congress in Milan, Italy, Bruno mentioned the problem that got here up with one of many strong rocket boosters (SRBs) in the course of the Cert-2 flight lower than a minute after liftoff.
The booster’s nozzle popped off, forcing the rocket to regulate the output from the Blue Origin-built BE-4 engines to compensate. He famous that the SRB in query continued to fireplace, however with much less effectivity than regular, in line with Area Information.
“The web impact of that was lower than two p.c of the overall impulse of the booster,” Bruno mentioned.
Spaceflight Now reached out to ULA to see if, since Bruno made these feedback greater than every week in the past, the investigation into what brought on the problem has been resolved. We’ll replace the story as soon as we hear again.
Throughout his prelaunch remarks, Bruno mentioned the anticipated timeline to full certification shouldn’t be lengthy, if that they had a “very clear mission.” He mentioned in that state of affairs, “it’s a brief variety of weeks to get all of it performed,” referring to the evaluation required for certification.
As a result of the Sierra Area Dream Chaser spaceplane wasn’t prepared in time for the Cert-2 launch, ULA accomplished that mission with an inert payload that included some experiments designed to assemble information on the efficiency of the Centaur 5 higher stage.
The us-106 mission will function the primary fully-government payload that ULA will fly on a Vulcan rocket. Whereas the Cert-1 launch that includes Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander was a part of NASA’s Industrial Lunar Payload Companies (CLPS) program and featured some NASA payloads, it was explicitly thought of as a business mission.
However, with the profitable completion of the Cert-1 mission, NASA mentioned ULA can start providing up Vulcan for consideration for NASA missions underneath the NASA Launch Companies 2 (NLS-2) contract.
“The necessities for proposing on NLS-II job orders are to be on the contract and have had one profitable flight,” mentioned Jorge Piquero, the Senior Technical Integration Supervisor for NASA’s Launch Companies Program (LSP), in an emailed assertion to Spaceflight Now. “Certification shouldn’t be required to bid, however can be required by the point of the awarded mission’s launch.”
As for what the U.S. Area Power is searching for by way of the certification course of to fly missions for the Nationwide Safety Area Launch (NSSL) program, the Area Programs Command’s (SSC) Assured Entry to Area (AATS) program workplace described its method as follows:
“The Authorities labored with business to collectively develop a certification plan that outlines a three-phase method with 25 totally different main classes that embody course of evaluation, design and qualification {hardware} and software program analysis, launch website assessments, and verification and validation to fulfill USSF mission necessities for all mission orbits. The us at the moment expects the completion of all Vulcan certification actions in 2024.”
Vulcan’s NSSL period
As soon as certification is full for the Vulcan rocket, there are two missions ULA hopes to launch earlier than the top of the 12 months. First as much as bat is USSF-106, which can then be adopted by USSF-87.
Again in January, in a joint assertion to Spaceflight Now, Col. Doug Pentecost, the SSC’s Deputy Program Govt Officer for Assured Entry to Area, and Michael Sanjume, the senior materiel chief for Vulcan Programs and Operations, mentioned that the U.S.-106 mission can be a multi-manifest mission.
Onboard this primary flight of a licensed Vulcan rocket would be the Navigation Expertise Satellite tv for pc-3 (NTS-3) and one other undisclosed payload for the U.S. Area Power.
The NTS-3 spacecraft is predicated on Northrop Grumman’s ESPAStar satellite tv for pc bus and was developed by L3Harris Applied sciences. As soon as on orbit, it will likely be managed by the Air Power Analysis Laboratory’s Transformational Capabilities Workplace.
The AFRL mentioned it options an agile positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) payload “to offer an area platform for AFRL and associate group experiments and built-in functionality demonstrations.” The spacecraft is designed to function for one 12 months in a near-geosynchronous orbit.
“NTS-3 builds on the legacy of NTS-1 and NTS-2, which have been launched within the 1970’s, and it’ll push the boundary of right this moment’s space-based place, navigation, and timing (PNT) know-how to pave the best way for a extra sturdy, resilient, and responsive structure for satellite tv for pc navigation (SATNAV) know-how,” the AFRL mentioned in a press release.
The satellite tv for pc serves as a backstop for the U.S. Area Power’s World Positioning System (GPS) by creating resiliency towards makes an attempt to jam or spoof GPS. The NTS-3 options a number of atomic clocks to permit for “automated clock error detection and correction” because the satellite tv for pc’s SATNAV is “critically depending on exact timekeeping.”
The AFRL mentioned there are three mutually-interdependent techniques that tie into the NTS-3 demonstration mission:
- An area-based experimental satellite tv for pc
- Floor-based command and management system
- Agile software-defined consumer receivers (SDR)
“In the end, consumer tools is the place the impression of latest navigation applied sciences and built-in SATNAV capabilities are felt by our warfighters and any adjustments to the sign being broadcast from area should be communicated to and coordinated with the consumer phase,” the AFRL wrote.
“NTS-3 will show new SDR options and the power to successfully carry out on-orbit reprogramming throughout system segments in the course of the experimental mission, together with numerous sign modulations, transmitting information in several methods, and altering broadcast parameters on a pre-defined schedule.”
In response to L3Harris, the satellite tv for pc options 5 major parts:
- Energetic Electronically Steerable Phased Array (AESA)
- Agile Waveform Platform (AWP), consisting of Enhanced Sign Processors (ESP) and Floor Mission Purposes (GMA)
- Cion Antenna/Receiver, created in partnership with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Hosted Payload Processor (HP2)
- Modular, Scalable Bus-agnostic Payload
Whereas the precise worth of the mission is proprietary to ULA, in line with the authentic job order award introduced in August 2020, the 2 mission awarded to ULA on the time (USSF-51 and USSF-106) had a mixed worth of $337 million.
Within the batter’s field
Following the U.S.-106 mission can be USSF-87, which was initially scheduled to launch within the fourth quarter of FY23, in line with the SSC’s authentic announcement of its task to ULA in March 2021.
As first reported by Aviation Week, the payload for this mission is anticipated to be a pair of satellites for the Geosynchronous Area Situational Consciousness Program (GSSAP).
“GSSAP satellites acquire area situational consciousness information permitting for extra correct monitoring and characterization of synthetic orbiting objects,” in line with the U.S. Area Power. “From a near-geosynchronous orbit, it has a transparent, unobstructed and distinct vantage level for viewing Resident Area Objects (RSOs) with out the interruption of climate or the atmospheric distortion that may restrict ground-based techniques.”
The primary pair of those satellites was launched from Cape Canaveral greater than a decade in the past on July 28, 2014, and achieved operational functionality standing on Sept. 29, 2015. Since then there have been two further launches of satellite tv for pc pairs in 2016 and 2022.
An Aug. 2023 press launch from the U.S. Area Power’s Area Operations Command (SpOC) introduced that two further launches have been scheduled for 2024 and 2027.
“The capabilities offered by GSSAP help security and allow avoidance as we function in area,” mentioned Mr. Mike Anthony, Area Operations Command Mission Space Group Chief, within the launch. “Area is crucial to our safety and prosperity and is a part of our on a regular basis life. Our capability to function safely and successfully shouldn’t be solely integral to international pursuits however can be very important to nationwide protection.”
Competing with SpaceX
Whereas all 50 missions within the NSSL Section 2 already awarded between ULA and SpaceX, the competitors for launches underneath the brand new NSSL Section 3 is now underway. The duty orders are break up into two major buckets: Lane 1 and Lane 2.
NSSL Section 3 Lane 2 job orders can be partitioned equally to Section 2, wherein about 60 p.c will go to at least one launch supplier, 40 p.c to a different and 7 missions can be put aside for a 3rd entrant. The awardees can be those that are capable of ship payloads to any orbital regime required by the U.S. Area Power and/or the Nationwide Reconnaissance Workplace.
Lane 1 in the meantime will see job order awards issued yearly, which is designed to permit for extra sturdy and common competitors to assist diversify the launch market. Nonetheless, the primary 12 months job order was introduced final week with all 9 missions going to SpaceX.
These launch service job orders (LSTOs) have a complete worth of about $733.6 million. Seven of the missions will assist the launch of the Area Growth Company’s (SDA) area autos as a part of its Tranche 2 Transport Layer satellite tv for pc constellation.
4 of these launches will raise off from Vandenberg Area Power Base and the opposite three will launch from Cape Canaveral Area Power Station.
There may even be a pair of missions for the NRO, which can launch within the fourth quarters of FY25 and FY26.
Previous to the announcement and the launch of Cert-2, Bruno mentioned he was optimistic in how ULA will honest in the case of the task of the Section 3 missions. He mentioned as a result of they designed the Vulcan rocket to be optimized for missions launching to excessive power orbits, like direct injection into geosynchronous, which requires a multi-hour higher stage coast, that they are going to be aggressive.
“We’ve got optimized round that top power orbit and there’s an terrible lot of missions in Section 3 which can be of that nature,” Bruno mentioned. “So, that helps us really feel like we’re in an excellent, aggressive place, together with plenty of different issues.”
Bruno additionally pointed to the ramp up of launching Vulcan to a fee of 25 occasions or extra per 12 months throughout 2025.
“We’re excited to kick off our modern NSSL Section 3 Lane 1 effort with two job orders that assist essential NRO and SDA missions,” mentioned Lt. Col. Douglas Downs, SSC’s materiel chief for Area Launch Procurement, in a press release. “Business stepped as much as the plate and delivered on this competitors. Our modern dual-lane technique is enabling a streamlined course of from mission acquisition to launch, getting our belongings on orbit for our warfighters’ profit extra shortly. Plus, with the power to on-ramp new suppliers and techniques yearly, we anticipate to see growing competitors and variety.”
Area Programs Command mentioned that there can be a minimum of 30 NSSL Section 3 Lane 1 missions up for award over the course of the five-year base ordering interval. It added that the chance to obtain launches will proceed within the not too distant future, stating that “The following alternative for suppliers to on-ramp their rising techniques to the Lane 1 IDIQ contract will happen later this 12 months adopted by a number of extra Activity Order RFPs for launch providers within the third quarter of FY25.”
