offbeat

Hopefully without disintegrating SRB nozzles

United Launch Alliance (ULA) has set a target date for its return to flight: Friday, November 13, for a Vulcan launch.

The mission will send 40 Amazon Leo satellites into orbit. A pair of BE-4 engines will power the booster, along with six Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs). A Centaur V second stage, propelled by two RL10C-1 engines, will complete the journey to orbit and deploy the payload.

The launch is the first Vulcan launch for Amazon after eight deployments with ULA's Atlas V. It is also the first since the launch earlier this year for the US Space Force in which an SRB burned through its nozzle during the ascent, treating viewers to some impressive fireworks and controllers to some likely clenched sphincters thanks to a "significant performance anomaly."

In the event, the US Space Force payload successfully reached orbit, but the Vulcan was stood down while ULA conducted an investigation.…