/sci/ - Science & Math

>>15490096
https://breakingdefense.com/2023/06/a-space-force-dozen-spacex-ula-awarded-contracts-to-launch-12-new-satellites/

> ULA’s Vulcan Centaur rocket, however, is years behind schedule. The company announced today that it “successfully conducted a booster engine flight readiness firing,” that brings qualification testing “up to 98 percent complete.” Vulcan’s Centaur needs to make two orbital flights to qualify for the NSSL launches, with a first one expected before the end of the year.

>SSC did not seem concerned with the timeline. “ULA and SpaceX continue to provide outstanding launch services with their reliable and innovative launch systems, and we are confident in their ability to maintain the unprecedented 100 percent program success for the NSSL missions assigned for launch in FY25,” said Col. Chad Melone, SSC’s chief of the Launch Procurement and Integration Division, in a press release.

Specifically, the new launch assignments are as follows:

NRO’s NROL-64, launching onboard ULA’s Vulcan rocket from the Eastern range, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
NROL-83, launching using ULA’s Vulcan rocket from the Western range, at Vandenberg SFB in California.
Four SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer launches, using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets from the Western range into polar orbit.
Three SDA Tranche 1 Tracking Layer launches, using ULA’s Vulcan and SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets from the Western range into polar orbit.
The GPS III-8 mission, assigned to launch onboard a ULA Vulcan rocket from the Eastern range into a medium Earth transfer orbit.
USSF-31, launching onboard a SpaceX Falcon rocket from the Eastern range.
USSF-114, using a ULA Vulcan rocket from the Western range.