United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan Next Generation Launch System (NGLS)

Byeman said:
What big stage? This is the largest ever.
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Isn't this the same upper stage Vulcan is currently using? I was thinking of the ACES upper stage.

"The ACES upper stage—fueled with liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid hydrogen (LH2) and powered by up to four rocket engines with the engine type yet to be selected—was a conceptual upgrade to Vulcan's upper stage at the time of the announcement in 2015. This stage could be upgraded to include Integrated Vehicle Fluids technology that would allow the upper stage to function in orbit for weeks instead of hours. The ACES upper stage was cancelled in September 2020."
 
Sferrin said:
. The ACES upper stage was cancelled in September 2020."
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There might be an opportunity to bring ACES back...or something like it.

Canada wants their own launch capabilities:
https://spacenews.com/canadian-military-invests-in-sovereign-launch/
Where ULA has nothing but fossils running it, Canada might be more open.

Pyrios wouldn't be overpowered from a more northerly launch site, and Canada could sell it as an SRB replacement.

I could see Canada breathing life into ACES, J-2, and other projects ULA has turned its nose up at:
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/the-jarvis-launcher.4307/
When he isn't on a UFO kick, Angry can give good commentary:
View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SWqAeYJMfFY&t=17s


Old Space is still relevant.
 
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Vulcan seems like a perfectly cost effective, if much delayed, way of putting high mass objects into high orbits, which was the niche it was intended to fill. If the comparison is F9, then I think we have to at least budget expending the first stage. And if necessary performance is outside F9 expended levels, we have to compare costs to Falcon Heavy.
 
Vulcan grounding could impact multiple Space Force, NRO satellite launches [Mar. 26]

Lt. Gen. Douglas Schiess, Space Force deputy chief of operations, told the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday that the service is still “actively looking through what the impacts will be” but said “several launches coming up” could be affected. Specifically, those include the first Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared – Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (Next-Gen GEO), a joint Space Force-NRO SILENTBARKER neighborhood watch bird, and the Wideband Global SATCOM-11+, as well as “some NRO satellites and space domain awareness” satellites.
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publiusr said:
There might be an opportunity to bring ACES back...or something like it.

Canada wants their own launch capabilities:
https://spacenews.com/canadian-military-invests-in-sovereign-launch/
Where ULA has nothing but fossils running it, Canada might be more open.

Pyrios wouldn't be overpowered from a more northerly launch site, and Canada could sell it as an SRB replacement.

I could see Canada breathing life into ACES, J-2, and other projects ULA has turned its nose up at:
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/the-jarvis-launcher.4307/
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Not possible and not what Canada wants.
A. Canada wants indigenous and home grown capabilities
B. Propriety and ITAR issues would negate this.
C. As for ACES, it is ULA's concept and their IP.

I don't "see" this. This is just facts and plain reality and not personal views.
 
Sferrin said:
Isn't this the same upper stage Vulcan is currently using? I was thinking of the ACES upper stage.

"The ACES upper stage—fueled with liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid hydrogen (LH2) and powered by up to four rocket engines with the engine type yet to be selected—was a conceptual upgrade to Vulcan's upper stage at the time of the announcement in 2015. This stage could be upgraded to include Integrated Vehicle Fluids technology that would allow the upper stage to function in orbit for weeks instead of hours. The ACES upper stage was cancelled in September 2020."
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ACES is just a Centaur with H2-O2 thrusters and IC engine providing electrical power and pressurization. This allows for the removal of most the batteries and all the helium and hydrazine tanks.
 
Sferrin said:
But 4 RL10s and a lot more fuel.
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I made a mistake and mixed up IVF and ACES
ACES is a concept and not a specific stage. It was originally a Boeing Delta IV upper stage concept with 3 engines (Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage 2006), then Advanced Common Evolved Stage 2009. It was the basis for the upper stage for Vulcan in 2015. ACES then had 150klb of propellant and 4 engines. The final design, Centaur V, has 120klb of propellant and 2 engines, not really a lot more and not IVF. And due to the market, there is a smaller version of Centaur V for LEO missions.
 
As of the FY26 USSF RDT&E budget, this is now targeted to launch in early FY27 (Q4 2026)

WGS has 10 operational legacy satellites and WGS-11 and WGS-12 (WGS-11 & 12) are in development as the first modern digital payloads using commercial technologies providing more coverage beams than their existing WGS predecessors combined and delivering twice the operational capacity than previous WGS analog satellites. Funding for this effort supports the advanced capabilities for WGS-11 & 12 under development for launch in FY 2026 and FY 2027, respectively.
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WGS-11 will host a PTS payload providing robust anti-jam capability to tactical warfighters, funded by the Protected Tactical SATCOM (PTS) program in PE 1206761SF.
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Description: Rapid prototyping of the PTS Space Segment for two PTS-P payloads and bus C2 development/upgrades at the operating centers for the Ground Segment. Develop, demonstrate, test, and evaluate PTS hardware/software systems and key system components. Design and develop modular, scalable payloads to support hosted or free-flyer configurations. Includes integration to host vehicle or purchase of - and integration to - a bus for free-flier configuration. Demonstrate prototype payload on-orbit performance. Evaluate PTS concept of operations with user participation and enable early use capability opportunities for warfighters. Mature and validate user requirements. Support development, risk reduction, and integration efforts to launch two prototype payloads in early FY 2027, one as a hosted payload and one as a free flyer.
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Support launch integration activities, to include SV to LV coordination for two PTS-P payloads, for the FY27 launch of both prototypes.
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