First static fire for the GEM-63 SRM series which will replace all current GEM Family versions of the GEM-40, GEM-46, and GEM-60 series.Current GEM-63 roster of strap on (fixed and vectorable) versions are (Orion motor naming system has been adopted for GEM-63 Series).GEM-63 - Atlas-VGEM-63XL - VulcanGEM-63XLT - OmegAFuture GEM-63 versions are planned to replace the following predecessor inline versions:GEM-40VNGEM-46VNGEM-60VN
With Vulcan and ACES they can do high performance missions their competitors can't do. The ACES will allow ULA to deliver payloads direct to GEO or LLO or even just short of lunar surface ie crasher stage in one launch. The ACES allows them to maximise performance of LV by being able to deliver multiple payloads to different locations. Time will tell if being able to offer different capabilities to competitors instead of copying them is a good idea.
Eric Berger says he's seen confirmation that ULA is picking BE4 for Vulcan.https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1042909571382239232
Quote from: envy887 on 09/21/2018 02:26 amEric Berger says he's seen confirmation that ULA is picking BE4 for Vulcan.https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1042909571382239232His tweets were a bit too cryptic IMO. Let's wait for Tory to confirm it.
ARTICLE: NGIS fires up GEM-63 motor destined for future ULA launches -https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/09/ngis-gem-63-motor-future-ula-launches/ - By Justin Davenport (@Bubbinski) who attended the firing for NSF and reviewed the test in his article.Vulcan render by Nathan Koga for NSF.
I hope this drawing was not posted already:
Quote from: Comet on 09/25/2018 11:25 amI hope this drawing was not posted already:For comparison, here's an earlier design (around the time of the PDR, if I remember correctly):
Does anyone have a guess what is the cost difference between a Centaur V and a short PLF vs. a Centaur III and a very long PLF?
Quote from: J-V on 09/25/2018 12:34 pmDoes anyone have a guess what is the cost difference between a Centaur V and a short PLF vs. a Centaur III and a very long PLF?Should be pretty big, in Centaur V's favor. The cost difference between the 4 and 5 meter fairings on Atlas V (and Vulcan uses the same 5 meter fairing) is about 15 million dollars, implying the total cost is probably upwards of 20 million. Centaur III takes up about half that, so Vulcan-Centaur V's fairing should be about half the cost for equivalent payload volume. On the upper stage itself, ULA claimed that ACES (despite being much larger) would be a bit cheaper than Centaur III (cheaper engines, aft-mounted avionics, more automated welding, thicker tank walls, inverted common bulkhead, central sump, multiple systems combined into IVF and elimination of explosive/toxic materials as a result, etc), though they never quantified that. Centaur V has nearly all of those cost reductions (other than IVF), so the same is probably true.
Has Car Company A ever had to buy engines from Car Company B?
Is the WSJ story an actual independent report, or just them picking up on Eric's reporting?Quote from: Markstark on 09/27/2018 11:18 amHas Car Company A ever had to buy engines from Car Company B? A lot of times. Smaller boutique car manufacturers like Lotus use bigger OEM's engines in their cars. There's also cars that are "collaborations" like Mazda MX5/Fiat 124, Toyota Supra/BMW Z4, Toyota 86/Scion FRS/Subaru BRZ, Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe, ect.There's also rebadging, I know Chevy rebadged Daewoo and Holden cars in the states. But I think auto is a more complicated industry as these manufacturers tend to have stake in each other like Toyota having a share of Subaru, but not owning it, ect.