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Vulcan rocket's first flight
The Vulcan rocket's first flight is a major step for ULA, replacing aging Delta and Atlas rockets. It features BE4 liquid engines and GEM 63XL solid rocket boosters, with a focus on simplified, efficient design and advanced manufacturing techniques like 3D printing for engine components.
- 🚀 The Vulcan rocket is 202 feet tall and 18 feet in diameter.
- 🔥 Each GEM 63XL solid rocket booster contains 109,000 pounds of propellant and burns for about 1 minute 50 seconds.
- 💡 BE4 engines use oxygen and methane, with a fuel-rich mixture for cooling and a unique "screech" phenomenon in the combustion chamber that required advanced engineering solutions.
- 🛠️ Upper stage tanks are "balloon tanks" made of thin stainless steel, requiring pressurization, while the first stage uses a rigid ortho-grid structure.
- 💧 The Acoustic Water Suppression System dumps 10 swimming pools worth of water to mitigate launch acoustics.
A night-time view of the ULA Vulcan rocket on the launch pad, with the text "VULCAN TOUR" overlaid.