ULA

United Launch Alliance (ULA) is an American, private, joint venture of Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Boeing that was formed in December 2006. ULA held a monopoly on military launches for more than a decade, until the US Air Force awarded a GPS satellite contract to SpaceX in 2016. It provides expendable rockets to carry a variety of payloads including weather, telecommunications and national security satellites, as well as deep space and interplanetary exploration missions in support of scientific research. It has around 3400 employees.

Headquarters: Centennial, Colorado

Launch/Test sites: Cape Canaveral FL, Vandenberg AFB, CA.

Rockets

Atlas V

Overview (Atlas v)

Atlas V is an orbital, expendable rocket designed and mostly manufactured by ULA. It measures 58.3 meters, has a diameter of 3.81 meters and has 2 stages. It can deliver up to 20,520 kg (45,240 lb) to LEO and 8,900 kg (19,620 lb) to GTO. It launched for the first time on 21 August 2002 and has launched 78 times, having only 1 partial failure. The rocket can have from 0 to 5 solid rocket boosters that have a height of 17 meters. There are different versions of this rocket which are classified with 3 numbers (the first one is the diameter of the fairing in meters (4,5), the second one is the number of solid rocket boosters (0 through 5), and the third one is the number or engines on the second stage (1,2)

Data (Atlas V)

Height: 58.3 m

Diameter: 3.81 m

Stages: 2

LEO: 20,520 kg

GTO: 8,900 kg

First Launch: August 21 2002

Launches: 16

Successes: 15

Partial Failures: 1

Failures: 0

Success Rate: 93.75%

Reusability: None

Boosters

Number: 1-5

Height: 17m

Diameter: 1.6m

Engine: AJ-60A

Thrust: 1,688.4 kN (379,600 lb_f)

Burn Time: 94 s

Fuel: HTPB (Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene)

First Stage

Height: 32.46m

Diameter: 3.81

Engine: RD-180

Engine Number: 1

Thrust (Sea Level): 3,827 kN (860,000 lb_f)

Burn Time: 253 s

Fuel: RP-1 (kerosene) and LOX (liquid oxygen)

Second Stage

Height: 12.68 m

Diameter: 3.05

Engine: RL10A or RL10C

Engine Number: 1

Thrust (vacuum): 99.2 kN (22,300 lb_f)

Second Stage Burn Time: 842 s

Fuel: LH2 (liquid hydrogen) and LOX (liquid oxygen)

Delta II

Overview (Delta II)

Delta II is an American, expendable, orbital rocket built and manufactured by McDonnell Douglas, and later on by ULA. It measures 39 meters, has a diameter of 2.44 meters and has 2 stages and an optional 3rd. It can deliver up to 6,100 kg (13,400 lb) to LEO and 2,170 kg (4,780 lb) to GTO. It launched for the first time on February 14, 1989 and will have its last launch on 2018. It has launched 155 times having only 1 failure and 1 partial failure. This rocket has a naming system in which the first digit is the series of the rocket (6 or 7) the second number determines the number of boosters (3,4 or 9 for the 7000 series and 9 for the 6000 and 7000 heavy series) the third digit is a 2 (denoting a second stage with an Aerojet AJ10 engine) and the last digit determines the third stage (0 for no third stage, 5 for a third stage with a Star 48B engine and 6 for a third stage with a Star 37FM motor). An H following the four digits denoted that the vehicle used the larger Delta III GEM-46 boosters. Numbers and letters following those indicate the type of fairing, for example, a -9.5 means that the vehicle has a 9.5 ft diameter fairing.

Data (Delta II)

Height: 39 m

Diameter: 2.44 m

Stages: 2 (optional 3)

LEO: 6,100 kg

GTO: 2,170 kg

First Launch: February 14 1989

Launches: 156

Successes: 154

Partial Failures: 1

Failures: 1

Success Rate: 98.7%

Launch Cost: 51 Million (1987 USD)

Reusability: None

Boosters

Number: 9

Engine: Castor 4A

Thrust: 478 kN

Burn Time: 56 s

Fuel: HTPB (Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene)

First Stage

Engine: RS27 or RS27A

Engine Number: 1

Thrust (Sea Level): 1,054 kN (237,000 lb_f)

Burn Time: 265 s

Fuel: RP-1 (kerosene) and LOX (liquid oxygen)

Second Stage

Engine: AJ10-118K

Engine Number: 1

Thrust (vacuum): 43.6 kN (9,800 lb_f)

Burn Time: 431 s

Fuel: N2O4 (dinitrogen tetroxide) and Aerozine 50 (50/50 mixture of hydrazine and UDMH unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine)

Third Stage

Engine: Star 48B or Star 37FM

Engine Number: 1

Thrust: 66 kN (15,000 lb_f)

Burn Time: 87 s

Fuel: HTPB (Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene)

Delta IV

Overview (Delta IV)

The Delta IV rocket is an American, orbital, expendable rocket designed and manufactured by ULA. It measures from 63 to 72 meters high and has a diameter of 5 meters. It has 2 stages and can deliver up to 11,470 kg (25,290 lb) to LEO and 4,440 kg (9,970 lb) to GTO. It launched for the first time on November 20th 2002. The Medium 4.2 and 5,4 version has 2 boosters and the Medium 5,4 version has 4 boosters. It costs around 165 million US$ per launch. There are three versions of this rocket. The 4,2 - 5,2 and 5,4.

Data (Delta IV)

Height: 63-72 m

Diameter: 5 m

Stages: 2

LEO: 13,730 kg

GTO: 6,890 kg

First Launch: November 20 2002

Launches: 40

Successes: 39

Partial Failures: 1

Failures: 0

Success Rate: 97.5%

Launch Cost: 165 Million USD

Reusability: None

Boosters

Number: 0/2/4

Engine: Gem 60

Thrust: 836.6 kN (185,800 lb_f)

Burn Time: 56 s

Fuel: HTPB (Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene)

First Stage

Engine: RS68A

Engine Number: 1

Thrust (Sea Level): 3,140 kN (705,000 lbf)

Burn Time: 245 s

Fuel: LH2 (liquid hydrogen) and LOX (liquid oxygen)

Second Stage

Engine: RL10-B-2

Engine Number: 1

Thrust (vacuum): 110 kN (25,000 lbf)

Burn Time: 1125 s

Fuel: LH2 (liquid hydrogen) and LOX (liquid oxygen)

Delta IV Heavy

Overview (Delta IV Heavy)

The Delta IV Heavy is an American, orbital, expendable rocket from the Delta family. It is developed and manufactured by ULA. It has a height of 72 meters and a diameter of 5 meters. It has 2 stages and 2 boosters that can lift up to 28,790 kg (63,470 lb) to LEO and 14,220 kg (31,350 lb) to GTO. It has launched 11 times (the first one on December 21st 2004), having only 2 failures. This rocket costs 350 million US$ per launch.

Data (Delta IV Heavy)

Height: 72 m

Diameter: 5 m

Stages: 2

LEO: 28,790 kg

GTO: 14,220 kg

First Launch: November 20 2002

Launches: 11

Successes: 10

Partial Failures: 1

Failures: 0

Success Rate: 90.1%

Launch Cost: 350 Million USD

Reusability: None

Boosters

Number: 2

Height: 48.1 m

Diameter: 5.1 m

Engine: RS-68A

Thrust: 3,140 kN (710,000 lb_f)

Burn Time: 242 s

Fuel: LH2 (liquid hydrogen) and LOX (liquid oxygen)

First stage

Engine: RS-68A

Engine Number: 1

Thrust (Sea Level): 3,140 kN (705,000 lbf)

Burn Time: 328 s

Height: 48.1 m

Diameter: 5.1 m

Fuel: LH2 (liquid hydrogen) and LOX (liquid oxygen)

Second Stage

Engine: RL10-B-2

Engine Number: 1

Thrust (vacuum): 110 kN (25,000 lbf)

Burn Time: 1125 s

Height: 13.7 m

Diameter: 5.1 m

Fuel: LH2 (liquid hydrogen) and LOX (liquid oxygen)

Vulcan Rocket

Overview (Vulcan)

Vulcan: The Vulcan rocket is an orbital, partly reusable rocket in development by ULA. The first launch is expected to occur on mid 2021. It will have 2 stages that can deliver up to 15,100 kg (33,200 lb) to GTO. It will have from 0 to 6 solid rocket boosters that will use a GEM 63XL. The first stage engines (BE-4) are designed to be reusable, therefore after first stage separation, the engines will separate from the first stage, deploy an inflatable heat shield and land on Earth. After that, they would be recovered and reused. This will majorly lower the cost of the rocket as the engines are the most expensive part.

Data (Vulcan)

Stages: 2

GTO: 15,100 kg

First Launch Planned: 2021

Reusability: Partial (Engines)

Boosters

Number: 0-6

Engine: GEM 63XL

Fuel: HTPB (Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene)

First Stage

Engine: BE-4

Engine Number: 2

Thrust (Sea Level): 4,900 kN (1,100,000 lb_f)

Fuel: CH4 (liquid methane) and LOX (liquid oxygen)

Second Stage

Engine: RL10-C

Engine Number: 4

Thrust (vacuum): 415.2 kN (93,300 lb_f)

Burn Time: 449 s

Fuel: LH2 (liquid hydrogen) and LOX (liquid oxygen)

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