ULA Hits the Big 5-0 with Atlas V Launch

Posted
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Doug Messier
on June 20, 2012, at 3:00 pm
in News
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Comments: 6 responses
6 Comments

Launch of Atlas V NRO satellite on June 20, 2012. (Credit: ULA)

With all the attention focused on SpaceX, there’s another rocket company that doesn’t get nearly the amount of credit that it deserves because its launches are almost always routine. ULA celebrated a milestone with the 50th launch of its Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program today as an Atlas V booster roared skyward from Cape Canaveral with a National Reconnaissance Office satellite aboard. Both EELVs — the Atlas V and Delta V — have proven to be highly reliable since entering service a decade ago. Each rocket has suffered an early engine cutoff, one of which had a serious impact on mission success.

The official press release is below.

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla., June 20, 2012 — (ULA PR) – A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) lifted off from Space Launch Complex-41 here at 8:28 a.m. EDT today. Designated NROL-38, the mission is in support of national defense.

“Congratulations to the NRO and to all the mission partners involved in this critical national security launch,” said Jim Sponnick, ULA vice president, Mission Operations. “This launch marks an important milestone as we celebrate the 50th successful Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) mission, with 31 Atlas V and 19 Delta IV missions flown since August 2002.”

NROL-38 is the first of three critical missions ULA is scheduled to launch for the NRO within the next two months.

“Twelve of the 50 EELV launches have been NRO missions and these have been vital to our overall mission of delivering on commitments critical to our national security,” said Bruce Carlson, director, National Reconnaissance Office. “I thank and congratulate ULA and the EELV program for the tremendous performance and achievement of this very impressive and noteworthy milestone.”

This mission was launched aboard an Atlas V EELV 401 configuration vehicle, which includes a 4-meter diameter payload fairing. The Atlas booster for this mission was powered by the RD AMROSS RD-180 engine and the Centaur upper stage was powered by a single Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RL10A-4 engine.

Developed by the United States Air Force to provide assured access to space for Department of Defense and other government payloads, the commercially developed EELV Program supports the full range of government mission requirements, while delivering on schedule and providing significant cost savings over the heritage launch systems.

ULA’s next launch is the Delta IV NROL-15 mission for the NRO scheduled June 28 from Space Launch Complex-37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

ULA program management, engineering, test, and mission support functions are headquartered in Denver, Colo.  Manufacturing, assembly and integration operations are located at Decatur, Ala., and Harlingen, Texas. Launch operations are located at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., and Vandenberg AFB, Calif.

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  • warshawski

    Doug the difference is price and company risk. ULA is a government funded monopoly with guaranteed cashflow. ULA has minimal business risk and the rockets were developed under government contract, they are also very expensive, this is business as usual.
    SpaceX developed the rockets initially with its own private funding and only later recieved a government contract on a fixed price for service basis. SpaceX is also developing new technology in re-usability to reduce price. This will have a significant impact on the whole space launch industry. The only comparable program is the X-37B which has very exciting posibilities if it can be re-used cost effectively.

  • http://www.parabolicarc.com Doug Messier

    I’m not sure what the issue is here. ULA flies highly reliable rockets that launch vital payloads. The company reached an important milestone today. This is simply a pat on the back for a company whose launches are so reliable that they don’t get that much attention.

    Yes the company has a monopoly. And the costs are high. Both those things will change. For now, if you’re launching a billion dollar satellite, going with a rocket that is cheaper but is still in development makes little sense. You lose the satellite and you’re out a whole lot more than the extra cost of one of ULA’s rockets. The military will go ahead at some point and let SpaceX launch a much cheaper satellite whose loss won’t blow a hole in our national defense structure. That may take longer than Musk and his supporters would like, but it’s based on sound thinking.

    ULA isn’t exactly standing still. It’s working on an upper stage that would be a lot cheaper to build and would be reusable as a space tug. The folks working on it are happy that SpaceX is out there because it gives a rationale for the company to spend the money it takes to become more competitive.

  • Warshawski

    Doug, just saying SpaceX and ULA are very different, 50 launches is a sound achievement but not of the same significance to changing access to space as SpaceX with it lower cost and 3 from 3 for a brand new rocket.

  • Paul451

    Interestingly, ULA’s member companies will receive $250m from the USAF to do preliminary research into the technology for the Reusable Booster System, intended to replace EELV in 2025. That’ll escalate into multi-$b contracts over the next decade.

    Meanwhile, SpaceX is doing the same work out of its own pockets.

    For example, the two preferred engine choices are Northrop Grumman’s TR-107 or PW Rocketdyne’s J-2X. Throwing a few tens of $millions to SpaceX to develop a reusable Merlin 2 is not even an option. It’s like they don’t exist.

  • Paul451

    [That last comment is not criticising Doug's post. Unlike Warshawski, I saw no implied criticism of SpaceX. I was just... sighing.]

    [Heh, captcha "Ksks"]

  • http://www.parabolicarc.com Doug Messier

    Paul451 is right. I wasn’t really criticizing SpaceX or trying to compare the two, just praising ULA for a job well done.