ULA’s Vulcan Rocket - A Testament to Moog’s Innovative Culture

It’s a new era of space exploration. With more launches than ever, Moog’s experience, innovation and performance continue to revolutionize the way to space. Moog has been enabling first-flight success for more than 70 years, innovating to meet customers’ evolving demands. That dedication to performance and innovation was once again on display during the inaugural launch of United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan rocket.

Vulcan successfully lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, for the first time on Jan. 8, 2024. It is the first of dozens of launches for Vulcan, which will serve the government, civil and commercial customers.

Moog has provided actuation solutions on all ULA launch vehicles since the company’s inception in 2006.

“We have a strong relationship with ULA, dating back to our heritage with the Atlas and Delta rockets,” says Jim Steffan, Program Director at Moog Space.

Moog designed and manufactured new hydraulic actuators for the first stage thrust vector control system. These actuators leverage seven decades of precision motion control experience and performed flawlessly positioning the engines to steer Vulcan. Moog also provides the upper stage TVC system and cryogenic engine controls for Vulcan. Having provided actuation solutions since the inception of spaceflight, this latest launch is another notch in Moog’s success of steering launch vehicles.

Two months before Vulcan’s successful launch, Steffan, who has been with Moog for 15 years, was part of the Moog delegation that visited ULA to receive the rocket manufacturer’s Most Innovative Supplier of the Year Award (2023), a testament to Moog’s creative and innovative culture.

“This is a significant award for us. We’ve had many conversations with ULA to look for opportunities in both cost reduction and technology requirements. We take pride in being proactive, offering new solutions to challenging requirements,” elaborates Steffan.

As ULA’s requirements for the rocket evolved, Moog stepped up to the challenge of redesigning firmware and test equipment.

“Our engineers came up with an innovative solution. They were able to utilize existing test equipment for the Delta IV rocket and modify it for the Vulcan rocket.,” said Steffan.

Another challenge was to prepare for the rapidly increasing production rate. The Vulcan rocket anticipates an unprecedented growth to serve commercial, civil and U.S. government launches. Steffan explains that Moog is expanding its facilities to accommodate a significant increase in launch rate over the next few years.

“We are quadrupling our Vulcan deliveries to ULA over the next two years which is why we are expanding our facilities for Moog Space in East Aurora, NY,” said Steffan.

The combination of technological creativity and expansion of Moog facilities, “enabled us to support Vulcan production needs, that ultimately serve our nation’s security interests,” concludes Steffan. “We are looking forward to many more successful launches for the Vulcan rocket.”

ULA Testament to Moog
“Moog continues to present various solutions on component re-design with ULA’s evolving specifications. They also offered ULA creative solutions to utilize existing Delta test equipment to support future Vulcan production needs. Furthermore, they are pioneering efforts to restructure their actuation business and expand their facility as production rates continue to increase.”
- Sheryl Platte, ULA Supply Chain Director