NGC Delivers First Vulcan GEM 63XL Solid Rocket Boosters

Northrop Grumman Corporation has delivered the first two 63-inch-diameter extended length Graphite Epoxy Motors (GEM 63XL) to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The solid rocket boosters will support the inaugural flight of United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket planned for first quarter 2023.

“We are committed to ensuring we fly the first certification mission and stay on schedule to achieve U.S. Space Force certification of Vulcan in advance of our first national security space mission in 4th quarter 2023.”

Mark Peller, ULA vice president of Major Development.

At approximately 72-feet-long, and weighing over 117,000 pounds, the GEM 63XL is the longest monolithic single-cast solid rocket motor ever produced. Together the two boosters will provide nearly one million pounds of additional thrust for ULA’s Vulcan rocket with each booster contributing over 463,200 pounds of thrust at launch.

Northrop Grumman began developing the Graphite Epoxy Motor (GEM) in the early 1980s with the GEM 40 to increase launch capability for the Delta II launch vehicle, followed by the GEM 46, used on the Delta III and Delta II Heavy, and GEM 60 for the Delta IV Medium-Plus vehicle. The fourth-generation GEM 63 booster flew its inaugural flight on the Atlas V in November 2020, and the company began testing the extended-length GEM 63XL variant, the longest monolithic rocket motor produced to date, in August 2020 to serve the Vulcan Centaur vehicle.

Northrop Grumman continues to incorporate updated technologies and its unique filament winding process to leverage heritage, flight-proven designs for high quality, low-cost and reliable strap-on variations.

GEM 63XL Boosters Add Flexibility to the Vulcan Launch System

The Vulcan Centaur is available in four standard offering configurations including zero, two, four and six solid rocket booster (SRB) variants.

ULA is proceeding to a first flight of Vulcan 1st quarter 2023 to align with a request from its payload customer Astrobotic, who will be flying its Peregrine lunar lander to the Moon for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.

This commercial mission is part of ULA’s requirement to meet the U.S. Space Force certification of its new launch vehicle. “We are committed to ensuring we fly the first certification mission and stay on schedule to achieve U.S. Space Force certification of Vulcan in advance of our first national security space mission in 4th quarter 2023,” said Mark Peller, ULA vice president of Major Development.

(Source: Northrop Grumman and ULA news releases. Images provided and from file)