United Launch Alliance (ULA) says despite recent anomalies involving their Centaur V upper stage and the BE-4 engines built by Blue Origin, Vulcan should still fly this year, although behind schedule.
Vulcan is ULA’s successor to the Atlas V and Delta IV heavy-lift rocket families, both of which are scheduled to be retired. The new vehicle uses liquid natural gas and liquid oxygen in its first stage, which is powered by two BE-4 engines. The upper stage, meanwhile, uses liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to propel satellites to their deployment orbits.