United Launch Alliance (ULA)’s Post

What a stunning view from the International Space Station of SLC-41—ULA’s East Coast home of #AtlasV, #VulcanRocket, and now, human spaceflight! Last month, history was made at SLC-41 as ULA returned human spaceflight to Atlas. “We love Florida. This is where you launch humans to space.” – Butch Wilmore, Starliner CFT Commander “This is where the rubber meets the road.” – Suni Williams, Starliner CFT Pilot Photo credit: NASA

We are highlighting a unique intern program at three of our sites - Denver, Colorado, Decatur, Alabama and Cape Canaveral, Florida. At these three sites, our interns are getting hands-on experience building various types of sport rockets. In Denver, ULA interns and mentors are building three high-power sport rockets for the Student Rocket Launch. These rockets will carry payloads from BAE Systems, Inc. interns and K-12 teams. In Decatur, interns are building rockets for their National Association of Rocketry (NAR) L1 and L2 certifications and are repurposing a Vulcan-homage rocket to mimic the #VulcanRocket #Cert1 launch vehicle. They are also designing, building and launching a small-scale #DeltaIVHeavy model rocket. In Cape Canaveral, interns are building rockets for their NAR L1 and L2 certifications. #StudentsRockIt

ICYMI // #Cert2 at the launch site The #VulcanRocket for our second Certification mission was delivered from the factory to Cape Canaveral by #ULARocketShip to begin launch preparations!

We have been working closely with our current Vulcan Cert-2 customer, Sierra Space, and while ULA will be ready to fly in mid-2024, Sierra Space has shared that they are making excellent progress with Dream Chaser but have schedule risk to fly by that time. Based on this delay and urgent national security needs, we are prioritizing the Cert-2 mission to enable certification to launch our first National Security Space mission. We plan to fly an inert payload, experiments, and demonstrations the Cert-2 mission. We are working with Sierra Space to identify the next available launch date ULA is aware of the heightened threat environment the nation is facing in space and takes seriously the critical responsibility of launching essential National Security Space satellite assets to orbit promptly.

#DYK Florida is the lightning capital of the U.S.? ⚡ ULA’s Space Launch Complex-41 (SLC-41) is equipped with four lightning mitigation towers, which conduct high current to the facility’s ground to keep our rockets and payloads safe. The catenary wires of SLC-41's lightning protection system form a faraday cage, shielding everything within from any electromagnetic interference. #LightningSafetyAwarenessWeek

📍Cape Canaveral Welcome to Florida #VulcanRocket! The #Cert2 booster and Centaur V high-performance upperstage arrived at the launch site after leaving the rocket factory in Decatur, AL for a several-day journey on #ULARocketShip through rivers and open ocean! The second Vulcan mission fulfills ULA’s obligations to conduct two launches for ULA’s certification process with the U.S. Space Force to carry national security payloads.