United Launch Alliance (ULA) has just successfully completed its second successful launch using its new Vulcan Centaur heavy-lift launch vehicle. ULA is one of two major US companies contracted to launch Space Force and spy agency satellites into orbit. Meanwhile, the Space Force has recently added another $1.
8 billion to fund ULA and SpaceX launches through 2027 . Established companies like United Launch Alliance, Boeing, and Airbus are struggling to adapt and remain competitive amid new entrances like SpaceX overturning the industry (as Boeing is finding out with its Starliner being outclassed by SpaceX's Dragon 2 ). Here are five facts about the ULA Vulcan built for US spy satellites.
1 Competes with Falcon 9 It has been designed primarily for the NSSL program Number of Falcon 9 launches: Around 400 Predecessor: Atlas V Engines: Blue Origin's BE-4 engines United Launch Alliance started developing the Vulcan Centaur heavy-lift launch vehicle in 2014 to compete with SpaceX's Falcon 9 and to comply with a Federal requirement to stop using Russia's RD-180 engine that powered its older Atlas V rocket. SpaceX doesn't have a monopoly on space launches (or at least not a complete monopoly just yet). The Vulcan has been designed mostly for the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program, which is responsible for launching military and intelligence agency satellites into orbit.
Even if SpaceX could fulfill the same mission cheaply, the US government must ensure competition remains.