ULA Upgrades Vulcan Rocket to Compete with SpaceX

By Joey Roulette

ORLANDO (Reuters) – Boeing and Lockheed Martin's joint rocket venture, United Launch Alliance (ULA), plans to enhance its Vulcan rocket to rival SpaceX's Starship in the low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite launch market, according to ULA's CEO.

ULA intends to develop a Vulcan model specifically designed for the growing LEO market, driven by SpaceX's deployment of thousands of satellites for its Starlink Internet service.

"We have recently completed a big trade study for what we want to have to be competitive in a future LEO market," ULA's CEO Tory Bruno shared with Reuters during a military space conference in Orlando. "And we've selected a modification to Vulcan which gives us significantly more mass to LEO and puts us in a competitive range."

The Vulcan rocket, powered by engines from Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, had its first two launches this year and is primarily designed for Pentagon missions. Among the options being considered for an LEO-optimized version are a "Vulcan Heavy," which would include three Vulcan core boosters, and several unique configurations that feature propulsion in unconventional locations.

Despite SpaceX's Starship being primarily aimed at crewed missions to the moon and Mars, it is also set to facilitate the rapid deployment of Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit. This situation has intensified competition among SpaceX’s rivals, such as Amazon, which are eager to establish their own satellite networks.

ULA anticipates completing development of its Vulcan variant around the same time Musk's Starship begins offering LEO satellite launches, although Bruno believes that this could be several years away. "We're not going to be facing him in that particular marketplace for a while," he predicted.

Musk has ambitious plans to significantly enhance Starship's capacity and capabilities, suggesting the timeline for flying LEO Starlink satellites could vary from several months to over a year.

ULA has several Vulcan missions planned with Amazon aimed at deploying its Kuiper internet satellites, making the rocket pivotal to Amazon's strategy against Starlink. The company has additional launches scheduled with other rockets as part of a notable 2022 multi-launch deal.

In contrast, SpaceX has executed six Starship test flights, adopting a test-to-failure method to achieve successive upgrades before finalizing a commercial-grade design. Other companies, including ULA, are awaiting a finalized design before launching new rockets.

ULA aims to conduct eight Vulcan missions next year alongside 12 missions using the retiring Atlas V rocket. Vulcan's launch price starts at approximately $110 million, slightly above the base price for a SpaceX Falcon 9, with a total of about 70 missions booked, including those with Amazon.

Lastly, ULA has been up for sale for over a year, drawing interest from Sierra Nevada Corp's space unit and Bezos' Blue Origin, although Bruno declined to comment on potential acquisition discussions.