United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket, which has contracts for dozens of flights with the U.S. military and Amazon’s Kuiper Broadband Network, lifted off from Florida on its second test flight on Friday with a strap-on Although one of the boosters malfunctioned, the mission was still successful. mission, the company said in a statement.
The test flight, known as Cert-2, is the second certification mission for the new Vulcan rocket and puts the Space Force on track to clear ULA’s new rocket and begin launching national security satellites in the coming months. It will be a milestone to open.
ULA said the Vulcan rocket continued to hit its target during Friday’s ascent into orbit, but engineers are investigating what happened to one of the solid rocket boosters shortly after liftoff.
After a last-minute abort of the countdown early in the morning, the 202-foot-tall (61.6-meter) Vulcan rocket ignited its two methane-fueled BE-4 engines and two side-mounted solid rocket boosters. Cape Canaveral rose from space. Force Station, Florida, Friday 7:25 a.m. EDT (11:25 UTC).
slight inclination
As the rocket arced east from Cape Canaveral, a shower of sparks suddenly appeared at the base of the Vulcan rocket about 37 seconds into the mission. The exhaust plume from one of the Northrop Grumman strap-on boosters changed significantly, causing the rocket to tilt slightly on its axis before the guidance system and main engine corrected the steering.
Video from the launch shows the booster nozzle, a bell-shaped exhaust cone at the bottom of the booster, falling from the rocket.
“Like all rockets, it looks dramatic, but it was just a nozzle being released, there was no explosion,” Bruno wrote in X.
During the ascent of the Vulcan rocket, #certificate2 As can be seen from the KSC press site, there appeared to be a problem with the solid rocket booster on the right side of the aircraft during the mission. However, the centaur was able to reach orbit.
📹: @AbernNYC pic.twitter.com/5h06ffNMXr
— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) October 4, 2024
The Federal Aviation Administration, which authorizes commercial space launches in the United States, said in a statement that it had evaluated the booster anomaly and “determined that an investigation is not warranted at this time.” The FAA is not responsible for regulating launch vehicle anomalies unless they impact public safety.
