ULA Vulcan Centaur Completes Cert-2 Mission Despite SRB Explosion

United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully conducted the second certification test flight of its Vulcan Centaur rocket on October 4, an essential mission for certifying the vehicle to carry national security payloads. However, a anomaly "observation" with one of the solid rocket boosters (SRB) has raised concerns.

The Vulcan Centaur lifted off at 7:25 a.m. Eastern from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The launch occurred after a slight delay within its three-hour window, with the first countdown attempt being stopped just 1 minute and 51 seconds before liftoff. A "transient on a redundant data system" was the cause of the hold, Tory Bruno confirmed via X.

After addressing the issue, the countdown resumed, and the rocket successfully lifted off on the second attempt.ULA reported that the rocket performed nominally during the early stages of the flight.

However, the separation of the two GEM 63XL solid rocket boosters occurred nearly 30 seconds later than anticipated. Observers witness an explosion and sparks coming from one of the SRBs as material appeared to come off one booster around 35 seconds after launch. A change in the plume indicated possible damage to the SRB’s nozzle, with a large nozzle looking chunk flying off the vehicle seconds later. Despite these observations, ULA did not comment on the SRB anomaly during the ascent.

The rest of the flight proceeded as planned, with the Centaur upper stage completing its first burn after a delay of about 20 seconds. The Centaur then successfully completed its second burn 35 minutes into the mission, marking the conclusion of the primary test objectives. ULA will continue to operate the Centaur upper stage for additional experiments.

“We did have an observation on SRB number one, and so we will be off looking into that after the mission is complete...Other than that, the flight was nominal.” - Tory Bruno, ULA CEO on the launch webcast following the second burn.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a statement to TLP acknowledging the anomaly during the flight, particularly involving one of the solid rocket boosters.

"The FAA is aware an anomaly occurred during the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan Centaur 2 mission that launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Oct. 4, 2024. This involved one of the solid rocket boosters. No public injuries or public property damage have been reported. The FAA is assessing the operation and will issue an updated statement if the agency determines an investigation is warranted." - FAA Statement

The Cert-2 mission, as part of Vulcan’s certification process, only carried a mass simulator and instrumentation instead of operational payloads. Originally, ULA had planned to launch Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spaceplane on this mission. However, due to schedule changes, the spaceplane was replaced with an inert payload.

This flight was crucial as ULA aims to certify Vulcan for national security missions. The company initially planned to launch in September, but this slipped to early October to accommodate additional testing and preparation.

ULA now targets the certification of Vulcan to enable two key national security missions—USSF-106 and USSF-87—before the end of the year.

Bruno expressed optimism about the certification process in an October 2 briefing, pointing to Vulcan’s clean performance in its first flight, Cert-1, earlier this year.

“I am supremely confident, having had a very clean Cert-1 mission...earlier launch was the cleanest first launch I’ve ever had. So, as I come up on Cert-2, I’m pretty darn confident I’m going to have a good day on Friday, knock on wood.” - Tory Bruno, ULA CEO

While the Cert-2 mission largely achieved its objectives, the anomaly with the solid rocket booster may prompt further investigation and could affect the timeline for final certification.

Photo Captured by Josh.S for TLP Network.