Vulcan Centaur

Vulcan Centaur

Vulcan Centaur in VC2S configuration ahead of its maiden flight
Function	Heavy-lift launch vehicle
Manufacturer	United Launch Alliance
Country of origin	United States
Cost per launch	US$110 million (starting)[1]
Size
Height	Standard: 61.6 m (202 ft) Long: 67.3 m (221 ft)[2]
Diameter	5.4 m (18 ft)[3]
Mass	546,700 kg (1,205,300 lb)
Stages	2
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Orbital inclination	28.7°
Mass	27,200 kg (60,000 lb)[4]
Payload to GTO
Orbital inclination	27°
Mass	15,300 kg (33,700 lb)[4]
Payload to GEO
Mass	7,000 kg (15,000 lb)[4]
Payload to TLI
Mass	12,100 kg (26,700 lb)[4]
Launch history
Status	Operational
Launch sites	Cape Canaveral, SLC‑41 Vandenberg, SLC‑3 (planned)[5]
Total launches	2
Success(es)	2
First flight	8 January 2024[6]
Boosters – GEM-63XL
No. boosters	0, 2, 4, or 6[7]
Height	21.98 m (865.3 in)
Diameter	1.62 m (63.7 in)
Empty mass	4,521 kg (9,966 lb)
Gross mass	53,030 kg (116,920 lb)
Propellant mass	47,853 kg (105,497 lb)
Maximum thrust	2,061 kN (463,249 lbf) each
Specific impulse	280.3 s (2.749 km/s)
Burn time	87.3 seconds[8]
Propellant	AP / HTPB / Al
First stage – Vulcan
Height	33.3 m (109 ft)
Diameter	5.4 m (18 ft)
Powered by	2 × BE-4
Maximum thrust	4,900 kN (1,100,000 lbf)
Burn time	299 seconds[9][10]
Propellant	LOX / CH4
Second stage – Centaur V
Height	11.7 m (38 ft)
Diameter	5.4 m (18 ft)
Powered by	2 × RL10[11]
Maximum thrust	212 kN (48,000 lbf)[12]
Specific impulse	453.8 s (4.450 km/s)[12]
Propellant	LOX / LH2
[edit on Wikidata]

Vulcan Centaur is a heavy-lift launch vehicle created and operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA). It is a two-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle consisting of the Vulcan first stage and the Centaur second stage. It replaces ULA's Atlas V and Delta IV rockets. It is principally designed for the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program, which launches satellites for U.S. intelligence agencies and the Defense Department, but ULA believes it will also be able to price missions low enough to attract commercial launches.

ULA began developing the Vulcan in 2014, largely to compete with SpaceX's Falcon 9 and to comply with a Congressional requirement to stop using the Russian-made RD-180 engine that powered the Atlas V. The first flight of the Vulcan Centaur was initially slated for 2019, but was delayed multiple times by developmental problems with its new BE-4 first-stage engine and the Centaur second-stage.^[13]

The Vulcan Centaur had a near perfect first launch on 8 January 2024 carrying the Peregrine lunar lander, the first mission of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. It made its second launch, a NSSL certification flight, on 4 October 2024, which achieved a perfect orbital insertion, despite the nozzle on one of the GEM-63XL solid rocket boosters falling off which led to reduced, asymmetrical thrust.