United Launch Alliance (ULA) said the planned launch of the world’s first commercial spaceplane, Dream Chaser, this summer has been postponed indefinitely. Instead, the company’s new Vulcan rocket and Centaur upper stage will carry two payload simulators for the U.S. military. It’s a matter of national security, the company said, but the plane simply doesn’t appear to be ready to launch.
Testing the spacecraft’s airframe. Image source: Sierra Space
A Sierra Space spokesperson told the source that they could still be ready to launch the Dream Chaser by the end of the year. “We continue to make excellent progress on the Dream Chaser, and the spaceplane is ready to fly by the end of 2024,” the spokesperson said. ULA executives have also expressed a willingness to queue up the aircraft for launch as soon as it’s ready to fly. The company expects to launch 20 Atlas V and Vulcan rockets next year, so the window of opportunity for the Dream Chaser will be open.
ULA is currently preparing to launch dummy rockets simulating the military’s mass and size loads. The first of two planned launches of the new rocket will take place no earlier than September of this year, and the second – closer to the end of the year. The launches will certify the ULA Vulcan rocket and the Centaur upper stage for missions for the U.S. Department of Defense. For ULA, this is an opportunity to start making money on the “Vulcans.”
In addition to the task of obtaining certification during two launches this year, the rocket developer will conduct a number of experiments about which almost nothing is known today. In general, the company intends to determine the limits of the technical capabilities of the booster block and its behavior in various modes. One of the problems of the Centaur remains the insufficiently reliable fuel tank. It has shown a tendency to come apart at the seams in the upper part. For now, the company is solving this problem with the help of welders who are reinforcing the tank with reinforcement, although this makes it about 100 kg heavier. Sending 100 kg of essentially useless iron into space every time is not the most profitable solution.
Artistic representation of a spaceplane
Despite everything, the long-term construction project named Vulcan Centaur can be considered complete. In January of this year, the new ULA rocket complex successfully launched the Peregrine lunar lander into space. The module did not fly far and fell back to Earth (burned up in the atmosphere), but the rocket and the upper stage worked perfectly, according to ULA. And it’s a pity about the plane. It would be an event for space programs to launch something like the Burans and Space Shuttles after so many years.