Northrop Grumman has announced that it is preparing GEM 63XL rocket boosters to support United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket on the United States Space Force national security missions. According to a recent corporation news release, Northrop Grumman conducted a validation ground test of an extended length 63-inch-diameter Graphite Epoxy Motor (GEM 63XL) in Promontory. NG says this variation of the GEM 63 strap-on booster was developed in partnership with United Launch Alliance (ULA) to provide additional lift capability to the Vulcan Centaur rocket – ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW – “This new motor optimizes our best-in-class technologies and leverages flight-proven […]
Boosters
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SpaceX is set to break another reuse record on the Starlink v1.0 L10 mission. For the first time, a Falcon 9 first stage will launch a sixth mission, this one carrying three rideshare payloads along with a batch of Starlink satellites. Liftoff of the eleventh overall Starlink mission, and the tenth launch of the Version 1.0 satellites, is scheduled for 10:31 AM EDT (14:31 UTC) on Tuesday, August 18. The 45th Space Wing has predicted an 80% chance of favorable weather for the launch. Should the launch be delayed due to weather, a technical issue, or anything else, there is a […]
NASA has initialized plans via a letter contract with Northrop Grumman for 12 additional Solid Rocket Boosters, or SRBs, for the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket — a pending contract with a potential value of $49.5 million USD. In the letter contract, the agency will “provide initial funding and authorization” to Northrop Grumman to begin ordering components, including long-lead items, for the 12 additional SRBs that will support Artemis 4 through Artemis 9. The finalized contract between NASA and Northrop Grumman will be worked out “within the next year” and will extend both booster construction and operations through 31 December […]
For the first time in ten years, Solid Rocket Booster segments have arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for flight operations. Successfully completing the cross-country train trip were all 10 propellant segments for the Artemis 1 mission of the SLS rocket as well as inert Castor-series segments for the company’s upcoming OmegA rocket, both of which are scheduled to debut in 2021 with flights off of Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. The arrival marks the second major flight component for the Artemis 1 mission to arrive for stacking operations at the Kennedy Space Center following the Interim […]