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16 hours ago
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Explosives topple ULA launch complex towers to make room for SpaceX Starships at Cape Canaveral
Following a quick succession of orange-flamed explosions, United Launch Alliance's mobile service tower and high-reaching lightning towers toppled to the ground Thursday, June 11, at historic Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The demolition clears room for SpaceX to build new launch pads, landing pads and surrounding infrastructure for enormous Starship-Super Heavy rocket systems — which could start rumbling to flight from Launch Complex 37 as soon as next year. "Shout out to the @SLDelta45 and @SpaceX for the clean and precision demolition operation!!! Cheers to the future!" SpaceX Vice President of Launch Kiko Dontchev said in a tweet. Cape Canaveral: Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, Axiom, ULA rocket launch schedule at Cape Canaveral ULA previously launched Delta IV rockets from the complex. The 16th Delta IV Heavy triple-core rocket notched its final fiery liftoff in April 2024 on a National Reconnaissance Office mission, marking the last launch at the site. Now, SpaceX awaits key environmental and regulatory approvals from the U.S. Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration to start launching Starships from the complex. A 176-page Air Force draft environmental impact statement spells out proposed new infrastructure at LC-37: Two integration towers, each measuring about 600 feet tall. Two concrete launch pads about 400 feet long by 400 feet wide. Two concrete landing pads, each measuring about 225 feet in diameter, with two Super Heavy first-stage-booster catch towers. These will stack up similar in size to the integration towers. Flame trenches and diverters to reduce acoustic and thermal energy during launches and landings. Utilities, propellant tanks, staging and storage buildings, water storage and stormwater ponds, lighting and other improvements. In addition, SpaceX would widen about seven miles of Phillips Parkway. Roughly four miles of this stretch lie on the Space Force installation, while the other three are on NASA's adjacent Kennedy Space Center. Crews would also widen and improve about one mile of Old State Road A1A. ULA's lease of LC-37 expired after that April 2024 Delta IV Heavy launch, and infrastructure at the launch site was turned over to the Air Force, said Emre Kelly, Space Launch Delta 45 media operations chief. "The (Air Force) does not intend to make a future leasing decision on SLC-37 until the Starship Environmental Impact Statement is complete and Record of Decision has been published," Kelly said in an email. Launch Complex 37 construction wrapped up in August 1963, three months before President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. Six Saturn I and two Saturn IB rockets launched there during the 1960s before NASA deactivated and mothballed the complex by November 1971, according to the Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum. After lying dormant for more than two decades, crews built new infrastructure at the complex and the first Delta IV launched in November 2002. 'I have great feelings of nostalgia for that pad. I was fortunate enough to capture several Delta Medium and Delta Heavy launches from that pad. The Delta rockets were just beautiful to photograph," Indialantic space photographer Michael Seeley said after capturing demolition video and images. "And so, watching it topple, I was reminded of that. And I'm reminded that, with change comes opportunity. I'm interested to see what comes next,' Seeley said. For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit Another easy way: Click here to sign up for our weekly Space newsletter. Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at Rneale@ Twitter/X: @RickNeale1 Space is important to us and that's why we're working to bring you top coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription here. This article originally appeared on Florida Today: ULA rocket towers demolished at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
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a day ago
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ULA's retired Delta IV launch tower demolished as SpaceX eyes Cape Canaveral site for Starship
With SpaceX champing at the bit to begin construction of a new Starship launch site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, demolition began Thursday to remove structures used by the previous tenant, United Launch Alliance. ULA used Space Launch Complex 37 for its Delta IV class of rockets, but the last Delta IV Heavy mission flew in April 2024 and ULA gave up its lease on the site. A video posted to X by journalist Michael Seeley shows the moment the Mobile Service Tower emblazoned with ULA's logo toppled over after a fiery explosion that also took out two lightning towers and a fixed umbilical tower. The site was previously used for eight Saturn 1 and 1B launches in the 1960s in support of the Apollo program. It then became home for what was initially Boeing Delta IV rockets starting in 2002. Boeing teamed up with Lockheed Martin to form ULA in 2006. Unlike other launch sites across Cape Canaveral and nearby Kennedy Space Center that feature rockets rolled out to their pads, Delta IV rockets were stood up within the protective Mobile Service Tower that would roll away from the pad ahead of launch. From 2002-2024, SLC-37 hosted 35 Delta IV rocket launches. That infrastructure turned to rubble, though, under the demolition work overseen by SpaceX and Space Force. SpaceX now awaits final results of an Environmental Impact Statement run by the Department of the Air Force expected to be published this fall. The EIS could clear the path for SpaceX to complete its own launch infrastructure for one of two planned Space Coast sites for its in-development Starship and Super Heavy rocket. The other would be at KSC's Launch Complex 39-A, where SpaceX already has a pad for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches. The Federal Aviation Administration is running its own EIS for the KSC Starship site. Together, the two Starship pads could support as many as 120 launches per year, with up to twice as many landings. The Super Heavy booster returns to the tower minutes after launch to be captured by swiveling arms known as 'chopsticks' while the upper stage is designed to make a vertical landing at the end of its orbital missions. For now, SpaceX has only performed suborbital test flights of the massive rocket from its Texas site, Starbase, but the company has stated it would like to have its first operational flight from the Space Coast by the end of 2025. SpaceX also continues to fly Falcon 9 rockets from Space Launch Complex 40. ULA meanwhile has refocused its attention to its other Space Coast launch site set up for its Atlas V and new Vulcan rockets at Space Launch Complex 41. _____
Yahoo
27-03-2025
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ULA's Vulcan rocket certified by Space Force to fly national security missions
After launching on its certification flight back in October 2024, United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket has finally received approval by the United States Space Force to fly national security missions. 'Thank you to all our customer partners who have worked hand-in-hand with us throughout this comprehensive certification process. We are grateful for the collaboration and excited to reach this critical milestone in Vulcan development,' Tory Bruno, ULA CEO, said in a Wednesday news release. National security missions are the main purpose of ULA's new workhorse rocket, which will eventually replace both the Atlas V rocket and the already retired Delta IV. 'Vulcan is uniquely designed to meet the challenging requirements demanded by an expanding spectrum of missions for U.S. national security space launches," said Bruno. When is the next Florida launch? Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, NASA rocket launch schedule at Cape Canaveral ULA and the Space Force team have completed 52 certification criteria, the news release said. This includes: more than 180 distinct tasks, two certification flights (January and October of 2024), 60 payload interface requirement verifications, 18 subsystem design and test reviews, and 114 hardware and software audits. What sets Vulcan apart from other rockets, according to ULA, is its powerful Centaur V upper-stage, which allows it to fly complex orbital missions. 'Vulcan's Centaur upper stage is a high-velocity and maneuverable platform to address evolving on-orbit threats in this new space warfighting domain and will offer extreme on-orbit endurance and flexibility,' Bruno is quoted in the release. The road has not been without bumps for ULA. During Vulcan's second launch for Space Force certification on Oct. 4, 2024, spectators near Cape Canaveral witnessed an anomaly shortly after liftoff. About 38 seconds after launch, a bright flash, followed by sparks, were seen coming from the side of the rocket. While the flight successfully continued, reaching orbit, the issue was investigated by ULA and teams to understand the root cause. The investigation found that there was an issue inside the nozzle on the solid rocket booster. Unlike SpaceX Falcon 9 — which is fully liquid propellant — ULA's Vulcan rocket utilizes solid rocket boosters at liftoff. According to Bruno, a manufacturing defect on a part in the engine nozzle of the solid rocket motor was to blame for the October incident. He said they are taking corrective actions for future flights. Vulcan will be able to fly with two, four, or six solid rocket boosters. It will also be able to fly without any additional boost from solid rocket boosters at all. Between the remaining Atlas V rockets and upcoming Vulcan launches, ULA has 70 launches on its manifest. Some 47 of these will be for Amazon's Kuiper internet satellites. For now, there is not currently a set launch date for ULA's Vulcan or Atlas V. Bruno stated earlier in March that Vulcan will fly later in the year. Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@ or on X: @brookeofstars. This article originally appeared on Florida Today: ULA's Vulcan rocket certified by U.S. Space Force to launch missions
