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![]() Vulcan Centaur in VC2S configuration ahead of its maiden flight | |
Function | Heavy-lift launch vehicle |
---|---|
Manufacturer | United Launch Alliance |
Country of origin | United States |
Cost per launch | About US$100–200 million[1][2] |
Size | |
Height | Standard: 61.6 m (202 ft) Long: 67.3 m (221 ft)[3] |
Diameter | 5.4 m (18 ft)[4] |
Mass | 546,700 kg (1,205,300 lb) |
Stages | 2 |
Capacity | |
Payload to LEO | |
Orbital inclination | 28.7° |
Mass | 27,200 kg (60,000 lb)[5] |
Payload to GTO | |
Orbital inclination | 27° |
Mass | 15,300 kg (33,700 lb)[5] |
Payload to GEO | |
Mass | 7,000 kg (15,000 lb)[5] |
Payload to TLI | |
Mass | 12,100 kg (26,700 lb)[5] |
Launch history | |
Status | Operational |
Launch sites | |
Total launches | 1 |
Success(es) | 1 |
First flight | 8 January 2024[7] |
Boosters – GEM-63XL | |
No. boosters | 0, 2, 4, or 6[8] |
Height | 22.0 m (865 in) |
Diameter | 1.62 m (63.7 in) |
Empty mass | 4,521 kg (9,966 lb) |
Gross mass | 53,030 kg (116,920 lb) |
Propellant mass | 47,853 kg (105,497 lb) |
Maximum thrust | 2,044 kN (460,000 lbf) each |
Specific impulse | 280.3 s (2.749 km/s) |
Burn time | 87.3 seconds |
Propellant | AP / HTPB / Al |
First stage – Vulcan | |
Height | 33.3 m (109 ft) |
Diameter | 5.4 m (18 ft) |
Powered by | 2 × BE-4 |
Maximum thrust | 4,900 kN (1,100,000 lbf) |
Burn time | 299 seconds[9][10] |
Propellant | LOX / CH4 |
Second stage – Centaur V | |
Height | 11.7 m (38 ft) |
Diameter | 5.4 m (18 ft) |
Powered by | 2 × RL10[11] |
Maximum thrust | 212 kN (48,000 lbf)[12] |
Specific impulse | 453.8 s (4.450 km/s)[12] |
Propellant | LOX / LH2 |
Vulcan Centaur is a heavy-lift launch vehicle created and operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA). It is a two-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle consisting of the Vulcan first stage and the Centaur second stage. It replaces ULA's Atlas V and Delta IV rockets. It is principally designed for the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program, which launches satellites for U.S. intelligence agencies and the Defense Department, but will also be used for commercial launches.
ULA began developing the Vulcan rocket in 2014, largely to compete with SpaceX's Falcon 9 and to comply with a Congressional requirement to stop using the Russian-made RD-180 engine that powers the Atlas V. The first flight of the Vulcan Centaur was initially slated for 2019, but was delayed multiple times by developmental problems with its BE-4 engine and the Centaur upper stage.[13] Vulcan Centaur launched for the first time on 8 January 2024 carrying Astrobotic Technology's Peregrine lunar lander, the first mission of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.[14]
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