ULA Vulcan launcher: updates

So ULA has reduced Vulcan's upper stage to "only" 18,000 hand welds

SpaceX uses automated friction stir welding.

Well ... it's an improvement.

Baby steps?

(Maybe they're looking into FSW?)

Bit late to the party imho, haha. After having seen Blue and SpaceX wheel in their methalox tank farms earlier 😛

BE-4 troubles would fit with the leaks they couldn't get past ~70% throttle.

https://www.businessinsider.com/r-boeing-lockheeds-vulcan-rocket-design-nearly-fully-mature-2019-1

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Boeing-Lockheed's Vulcan rocket design 'nearly fully mature'

 

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - A joint venture between Boeing Co and Lockheed Martin Corp will conduct the final design review for its new flagship Vulcan rocket within months, it said on Wednesday, as the aerospace company heads for a showdown with Elon Musk's SpaceX and others in the launch services market.

The final design review is a crucial milestone as the company, United Launch Alliance (ULA), tries to move into full production ahead of a first flight in spring 2021 after slipping from its initial 2019 timetable.

"The design is nearly fully mature,"  ULA systems test engineer Dane Drefke told Reuters during a tour of Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
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Meanwhile, Blue Origin has hit "a few minor setbacks" during rigorous BE-4 testing but was "progressing nominally" and was expected to live up to delivery targets, Drefke said.

Blue Origin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

Good deal.

Well, guess they're confident Vulcan will eventually fly...no more Atlas V sales.

https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/26/22641048/ula-boeing-lockheed-end-sales-atlas-v-rocket-russia-rd180

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ULA stops selling its centerpiece Atlas V, setting path for the rocket’s retirement

 

The Boeing-Lockheed joint venture will retire its stalwart rocket after 29 more missions

United Launch Alliance won’t be selling any more of its workhorse Atlas V rockets, and it has stopped buying the launch vehicle’s Russian-made rocket engines for good, the company’s chief executive told*The Verge.*ULA’s decision sets up the retirement of one of the US government’s most trusted launch vehicles and is expected to mark the end for Russia’s iconic — but controversial — RD-180 engine, an engineering marvel and a core source of revenue for Russia’s space program.
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and a Vulcan pathfinder stage is at KSC LC-41 for pad fit checks and tanking tests (wet dress rehearsal) using non-flight BE-4 engines.

US Space Force doesn't seem too happy about ULA's Vulcan soap opera. First the BE4 engine problems, now they're blowing up Centaur 5 upper stages on the test stand. Centaur 3 as a decades-long year history of success, but the larger upgrade...

https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1648641835063967744