Learn about the mission profile about United's Launch Alliance - the 2nd certification flight of the Vulcan rocket.
Credit: ULA
Credit: ULA
Category
🤖
TechTranscript
00:00Following final confirmation of rocket readiness, twin BE-4 engines and two GEM-63XL solid rocket boosters produce more than 1.8 million pounds of thrust to lift ULA's Vulcan rocket away from Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 41.
00:20Shortly after liftoff, the rocket begins a pitch-over to attain the proper flight path while minimizing the dynamic pressure it experiences during flight.
00:28Vulcan then reaches Mach 1, the speed of sound.
00:33With the ability to add two, four, or six solid rocket boosters, or SRBs, Vulcan can be precisely configured to take any mission to space, from low Earth orbit to Pluto and beyond.
00:48These boosters augment the rocket's total thrust at liftoff, adding approximately 460,000 pounds of thrust per SRB.
00:55With their propellant expired approximately 90 seconds into ascent, the SRBs burn out, followed by jettison.
01:03Jettison time is variable, occurring between 100 and 150 seconds after liftoff, depending on mission requirements.
01:10Vulcan's guidance system then activates to steer towards the precise target in space.
01:14First stage flight continues as the rocket crosses the Kármán line, entering space.
01:21With the majority of propellant expended as Vulcan fights against the force of gravity, the BE-4 engines shut down and the booster stage separates.
01:30With the rocket now weighing less than 10% of what it did at liftoff, dual RL-10C engines on ULA's Centaur upper stage ignite.
01:38Spacecraft are encapsulated inside a 5.4-meter diameter payload fairing, which provides a protective environment during ascent.
01:47Following Centaur engine ignition, the payload fairing is jettisoned.
01:52With the first burn complete, the Centaur engine shuts down for a coast phase.
01:56Further into flight, Centaur ignites for a second burn, powering the vehicle into a hyperbolic injection orbit.
02:04Following the second main engine cutoff, ULA Centaur will continue into an orbit around the Sun.
02:10Homic
02:25Subtitled by H cinema
02:26Subtitled by Hz chance
02:32Plus
02:33eight
02:38plus
02:39What