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ULA proposes Vulcan rocket role in US satellite defense

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ULA proposes Vulcan rocket role in US satellite defense
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Simple Flying | Simple Flying

United Launch Alliance (ULA) has proposed a military use for its Vulcan Centaur rocket, suggesting it could serve as a "space interceptor" to protect US orbital assets. The heavy launch vehicle competes with SpaceX's Falcon 9 and is priced at around $110 million per launch. Despite being costly, the Vulcan Centaur is approximately half the price of its predecessor, the Atlas V, and features Blue Origin BE-4 engines designed for reusability.

Tory Bruno, ULA CEO, presented this vision at the Spacepower Conference. He stated: “Our vision is the ability to have a platform that is lightning fast, long range, and, if necessary, very lethal. What I’ve been working on is essentially a rocket that operates in space.”

Bruno has promoted adapting the Centaur upper stage for additional missions in space. As reported by Space News in 2020, he outlined plans for an enhanced Centaur V with increased energy and thrust capabilities to support complex trajectories and ambitious missions. More recently, he has discussed a "high-performance, long-duration” version capable of supporting U.S. military operations for days or weeks.

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The concept involves upgrading the Centaur V with an Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10 engine to enable it to perform long-endurance counter-space missions swiftly. Bruno described current satellites as "slow and deliberate in their motion," whereas Vulcan Centaur could respond quickly to emerging threats.

In his Medium article, Bruno explained that existing satellite killers are constrained by limited propellant and small thrusters which slow their approach to targets over days or weeks. In contrast, he suggests that Vulcan Centaur could move within hours to intercept threats.

This development comes amid growing competition between the United States and China in space exploration and defense capabilities. While Russia may not compete like before, it still poses potential threats to other nations' space-based assets.

Since 2019 when the US established Space Force as an independent branch from the Air Force—indicating increased focus on space as a military domain—the Air Force has shown interest in SpaceX's Starship for rapid global transport of personnel or cargo.

While SpaceX currently dominates low earth orbit payload launches—a position once held by ULA—the latter seeks ways to adapt and reclaim market share through innovations such as those proposed for Vulcan Centaur.

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