The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket has been a stalwart of the launch industry for nearly a quarter-century, with a near-flawless record of 110 successful flights since its debut in 2002. However, as the company transitions to its newer Vulcan rocket, the Atlas V’s final act is waiting on Boeing’s Starliner crew capsules.
The most recent flight of an Atlas V was last Thursday, when it launched 29 satellites for Amazon’s Leo broadband constellation into orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This marked the ninth Atlas V flight for Amazon Leo and the fourth launch in less than three months, a rare cadence for the rocket. The surge in launches is due to the end of the Atlas V’s service life, with only six more rockets remaining in ULA’s inventory.
These final Atlas Vs are contracted to launch Boeing’s Starliner crew capsules to the International Space Station (ISS) under NASA’s commercial crew contract. However, it is uncertain whether Boeing will use all six of these rockets, as NASA reduced the number of guaranteed missions from six to four last year due to chronic delays in the program.
If Boeing doesn’t need all six Atlas Vs, ULA may consider repurposing them for other missions, such as adding launch capacity for Amazon Leo. However, this would be challenging due to the rocket’s design and configuration. The Starliner spacecraft flies in an exposed configuration during launch, and the Atlas V’s payload fairing is not interchangeable with the newer Vulcan rocket’s fairing.
The final flights of the Atlas V will also mark the end of its most powerful configuration, which includes five strap-on solid rocket boosters. ULA has enough boosters in storage to affix two strap-on motors to each of the six Starliner flights, limiting the overall lift capability for the remaining Atlas Vs.
ULA’s next launch will be the return to flight of its Vulcan rocket, which has been grounded since February due to problems with its solid-fueled boosters. The recent explosion of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket on its launch pad in Florida also clouds ULA’s plans for Vulcan’s return to service. The initial focus of the investigation is on the engine compartment of the New Glenn, which shares the same main engine as the Vulcan.
Amazon purchased nine Atlas V launches from ULA in 2021 and has since secured contracts with multiple launch providers, including ULA’s Vulcan, Europe’s Ariane 6, and Blue Origin’s New Glenn rockets. The company has reserved 38 launches on Vulcan rockets and funded a new rocket assembly hangar at Cape Canaveral to support the ramp-up of Vulcan’s launch cadence.
“Atlas V has played a critical role in the early deployment phase for Amazon Leo, launching 224 satellites with a 100 percent success rate across all eight operational missions,” said Melissa Wuerl, Amazon Leo director of launch systems. “We’re excited to build on that foundation with ULA as we transition to Vulcan.” The fate of the remaining Atlas Vs and the future of ULA’s launch business remain uncertain until Boeing’s Starliner missions are completed.
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