People always ask Tory about SMART and re-usability so we know where ULA stands there. But what's been happening with Centaur?

• The Centaur V "LEO optimized configuration"
• RL10C-X engines
• Other upgrades, life extension kits...

I applied to ULA's software engineering internship for 2025 and tried to view the status of my application, but couldn't log into my account. I also couldn't get a password reset email sent to the address I registered with. Maybe this is just them not moving forward with my application, but does anyone know an email address I can write to and get help with this? I couldn't find one on the website, so any help is much appreciated!

The second flight of ULA's Vulcan rocket is scheduled to lift off from SLC-41 on Friday, 4 October during a window that runs from 10:00 to 13:00 UTC (6:00 to 9:00 AM EDT). Vulcan is flying in the 2S configuration, with two Northrop Grumman GEM-63XL solid rocket motors and a standard-length payload fairing. The payload for the Cert-2 mission is an inert mass.

#Watch the launch:

• ULA's webcast will begin at TBD

• Cape Canaveral launch viewing guide

#Updates:

#Information & Resources:

Media:

• Photo gallery

• The Second Vulcan Launch: From Factory to Launch

• Vulcan's Second Flight: Earth to Orbit

Useful Links:

• Live updates from ULA

• Live auto-updating reddit comment stream

• Updates on X from ULA, Tory Bruno, and /r/ULA

So, we all know that ULA is targeting Vulcan launches of about twice a month or every other week (i.e. 24-26 times per year) and they are building additional infrastructure in order to support that (second east coast launch platform, second transport ship, second east coast integration building, etc). I tried to compare this to the last full year of SpaceX operations where they launched 96 times and compare what the payload capacity of each operation would be able to give you. Reference orbit is GTO (good middle ground between high energy GEO/TLI/interplanetary and LEO). Comparing # of launches is misleading because different rockets have different payloads capacities and different reusability regimes can both increase launch rate but diminish payload per launch to varying amounts. This is the spreadsheet that I came up with with a few assumptions about the mix between Vulcan booster number and a couple of the payload data points for Falcon payload in two scenarioes (Falcon Heavy 2R and Falcon 9 RTLS GTO payload have no good public payload numbers that I can find and thusly reasonable guesstimates are used as placeholders).

https://preview.redd.it/j5yt9kt56wid1.png?width=720&format=png&auto=webp&s=4798eb42975d3ed5a8b2e0b2eb9d789a269d4f19