A spark ignited a fire at NASA’s Alabama launch complex, endangering next month’s launch of a highly awaited heavy-lift rocket.
United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno provided a deeper look at the March 29 test stand explosion at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama on Thursday. The stand gathered hydrogen. Found ignition. “Burned fast,” Bruno tweeted. Overpressure ruined our front dome.
A hydrogen flare at a test site may delay the heavy-lift rocket’s May 4 launch.
The anomaly happened as ULA was pressurizing Vulcan’s top stage. A spark ignited a large hydrogen fuel buildup, generating a tremendous firestorm over the test rig. We extensively test every ground condition before flight. Bruno tweeted after the incident, “Investigating.” “Vulcan will fly.”
ULA’s two-stage Vulcan Centaur rocket, in development since 2014, debuted on May 4 after multiple delays. Before launching Vulcan next month, the Colorado business had planned to deploy it in 2020 and 2022. ULA received two Blue Origin BE-4 engines more than four years late.
Vulcan may not fly again after the anomaly. Bruno said ULA will retrieve the first stage on Friday for analysis. “Don’t know yet whether the leak was in the test article or the test rig,” he tweeted. Bruno means rocket by “test article.”
ULA’s CEO tweeted a video of the meteor shower.
ULA’s Atlas V and Delta IV rockets, used for 20 years, will be replaced by the totally expendable 202-foot (62-meter) rocket. Compared to SpaceX’s Falcon 9, the Vulcan Centaur can lift 27.2 metric tons (60,000 pounds) to low Earth orbit and 6.5 metric tons (14,300 pounds) to geosynchronous orbit.
ULA needed its first Vulcan launch to plan Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser mission later this year. The Space Force requires two Vulcan flights for the corporation to launch military and intelligence satellites. ULA will deliver 35 Space Force missions in five years. Vulcan will launch additional Amazon Kuiper satellites.
Vulcan will also launch Amazon’s first two Kuiper internet satellites. Launch this rocket soon, ULA.
The rocket will launch Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander, which will aim to land 11 payloads for NASA, on its first mission. Bezos’ first two Amazon Kuiper internet satellites will also be delivered to low Earth orbit by Vulcan. ULA must launch this rocket soon.
Bruno told Twitter users that the big explosion wasn’t as catastrophic as it seemed and that only time would tell if Vulcan’s top stage is ready for liftoff.