ULA will use rideshare to make extra money from spare capacity. Depending on mission may add SRBs because of rideshare. In 2019 Astrobotics will fly as secondary on Atlas/Cynus mission, centuar does earth departure burn. Giving rideshares to lunar robotic missions could be nice sideline. A more capable Centuar might even have endurance for TLI, giving nice boost to landed payload. More capable US more options there are for using spare capacity.
The current Vulcan ILC is mid 2020. It will fly with an American engine, replacing Atlas’ RD180
@wehavemeco: any update on Vulcan’s CDR? Anxiously awaiting.@torybruno: 2 parts. First part complete and successful
Not really a surprise after the announced additional 6 months Centaur V adds to Vulcan development, but Tory Bruno did confirm that Vulcan Initial Launch Capability has slipped into 2020.QuoteThe current Vulcan ILC is mid 2020. It will fly with an American engine, replacing Atlas’ RD180https://www.reddit.com/r/BlueOrigin/comments/7pavyi/blue_origins_latest_footage_of_the_be4_engine/dsitdej/He also provided a small update on the Vulcan CDR.Quote@wehavemeco: any update on Vulcan’s CDR? Anxiously awaiting.@torybruno: 2 parts. First part complete and successfulhttps://twitter.com/torybruno/status/951271568218320896
People constantly castigate "that other company from Hawthorne" for having delays. But here is ULA having a six-month delay and things are are (almost eery) quiet.
Quote from: woods170 on 01/12/2018 06:39 amPeople constantly castigate "that other company from Hawthorne" for having delays. But here is ULA having a six-month delay and things are are (almost eery) quiet.Because there is enough ULA castigation on the rest of the forum
Quote from: woods170 on 01/12/2018 06:39 amPeople constantly castigate "that other company from Hawthorne" for having delays. But here is ULA having a six-month delay and things are are (almost eery) quiet.That's because we already knew about the delay. Tory Bruno announced the trade - Centaur 5 for six months time - on twitter a month or two ago. - Ed Kyle
Quote from: edkyle99 on 01/12/2018 01:29 pmQuote from: woods170 on 01/12/2018 06:39 amPeople constantly castigate "that other company from Hawthorne" for having delays. But here is ULA having a six-month delay and things are are (almost eery) quiet.That's because we already knew about the delay. Tory Bruno announced the trade - Centaur 5 for six months time - on twitter a month or two ago. - Ed KyleWas Vulcan late 2019? I don't recall seeing a date, just the year.They started working with Blue on BE-4 in late 2014, and unveiled the vehicle design in early 2015. 5 years and some months seems pretty typical for a mostly new LV development program.
Was Vulcan late 2019? I don't recall seeing a date, just the year.
@torybruno are you afraid that the constant rate of success will be hauled with the introduction of a whole new rocket not entirely based in Lockheed/Boeing...
Yes, but the rocket is only half of the equation
Quote from: AncientU on 12/27/2017 12:01 pmDon't think ULA plus AJR is competitive. Neither has adjusted to the realities of today's and tomorrow's marketNo, people are just over hyping the "realities of today's and tomorrow's market". Most don't know what they are talking about and just repost the same unsupported biased opinions.
Don't think ULA plus AJR is competitive. Neither has adjusted to the realities of today's and tomorrow's market
Quote from: Jim on 12/28/2017 04:38 pmQuote from: AncientU on 12/27/2017 12:01 pmDon't think ULA plus AJR is competitive. Neither has adjusted to the realities of today's and tomorrow's marketNo, people are just over hyping the "realities of today's and tomorrow's market". Most don't know what they are talking about and just repost the same unsupported biased opinions.Stephane Isreal, for instance...https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=31484.msg1771157#msg1771157
It is different though. The potential engineering value of returning a booster for inspection is extremely high, since it can result in fixing a failure mode that saves a future billion dollar payload or prevent a stand-down and RTF costing hundreds of millions.Excess margin is also valuable in case of an anomaly. A multi-engine upper stage would have engine-out redundancy and extra delta-v to insure against booster shortfalls like the DIVH first flight failure and OA-6 close call. Landing margins for a booster provide the same thing, but is also different because it can also enable reuse (the choice to reuse or not reuse isn't necessarily made before the flight).
Quote from: envy887 on 01/12/2018 03:09 pmWas Vulcan late 2019? I don't recall seeing a date, just the year. When Vulcan was first announced, ULA said first flight was NET 2019 - no quarter given.
Quote from: Sknowball on 01/12/2018 04:36 amNot really a surprise after the announced additional 6 months Centaur V adds to Vulcan development, but Tory Bruno did confirm that Vulcan Initial Launch Capability has slipped into 2020.QuoteThe current Vulcan ILC is mid 2020. It will fly with an American engine, replacing Atlas’ RD180https://www.reddit.com/r/BlueOrigin/comments/7pavyi/blue_origins_latest_footage_of_the_be4_engine/dsitdej/He also provided a small update on the Vulcan CDR.Quote@wehavemeco: any update on Vulcan’s CDR? Anxiously awaiting.@torybruno: 2 parts. First part complete and successfulhttps://twitter.com/torybruno/status/951271568218320896People constantly castigate "that other company from Hawthorne" for having delays. But here is ULA having a six-month delay and things are are (almost eery) quiet.
The EELV is simply less interesting to most observers, and so 6 months here or there generate a lot less excitement.
Quote from: meekGee on 01/13/2018 07:40 pmThe EELV is simply less interesting to most observers, and so 6 months here or there generate a lot less excitement.They fly more interesting missions than GTO comsats or station resupply. Too many people are caught up in the means with the ends are more important. I don't care how I get my packages.
Quote from: meekGee on 01/13/2018 07:40 pmThe EELV is simply less interesting to most observers, and so 6 months here or there generate a lot less excitement.There's no such thing as a less interesting EELV. Customers are interested in whatever launch vehicle best fits their need for a specific launch. They don't care how many engines it has, what color it's painted, who makes the vehicle or if it has 2 or 5 stages. They are only interested in an appropriate launch service and whatever EELV fits their needs becomes the choice.