Five months ago, United Launch Alliance (ULA) formally announced its plans for a next-generation launch system, called Vulcan (the winning name in an online voting competition.) Most of the focus on Vulcan has been on the replacement of the Russian-built RD-180 engine with an American alternative, most likely Blue Origin’s BE-4.
Vulcan, though, is more than just about ending dependence on a Russian engine. ULA has laid out a long-term strategy for upgrading the Vulcan, including the development of a new upper stage, partial reusability, and other concepts to enable heavier payloads and reduce costs, ideas ULA officials discussed at the recent AIAA Space 2015 conference in Pasadena, California. But a proposal last week by another company to acquire ULA could put those plans in question.
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