We plan to de-stack the Vulcan rocket and return the Centaur V to Decatur for modifications,” the company stated. “Centaur’s thin-walled pressure stabilized tanks require minor reinforcement at the top of the forward dome prior to flight. ULA said in the statement it had identified the root cause of that incident and necessary corrective actions. Hydrogen leaked from the Centaur, accumulated inside the test stand and ignited, damaging the stage. The decision to destack the rocket came after ULA completed the investigation into an anomaly during a March 29 test of a Centaur at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The Vulcan booster will remain at the Cape, stored in a horizontal processing facility. In a brief statement early June 24, ULA said it would remove the Centaur upper stage that had been installed on the Vulcan booster at Cape Canaveral for that inaugural launch and ship it back to the company’s Decatur, Alabama, factory. WASHINGTON - The inaugural launch of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket faces new delays after the company said it needs to make “minor reinforcements” to part of the Centaur upper stage.
