Great news for the U.S. Space Force and the aerospace industry! The Space Force has officially certified United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket for national security launches, marking a major milestone in the program’s development.
Key Details:
- Certification Approval: The Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC) confirmed Vulcan’s readiness after a rigorous evaluation process, including a successful first flight (Cert-1) in January 2024.
- National Security Missions: Vulcan is now authorized to compete for National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 2 missions, alongside SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy.
- Replacing Atlas V: Vulcan will gradually take over launches from ULA’s Atlas V, which relies on Russian-made RD-180 engines—a dependency the U.S. aims to phase out.
- Next Steps: Vulcan’s second certification flight (Cert-2) is expected later in 2024, carrying Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spaceplane. After that, it will begin NSSL missions, starting with USSF-106 in late 2024.
Why It Matters:
- Assured Access to Space: The Pentagon requires two certified launch providers (currently ULA and SpaceX) to ensure redundancy for critical military and intelligence satellites.
- Competition & Innovation: Vulcan’s certification strengthens ULA’s position against SpaceX and future rivals like Blue Origin’s New Glenn.
- Transition to New Systems: This marks a shift toward fully domestic launch vehicles with advanced capabilities, including Blue Origin’s BE-4 engines (used on Vulcan’s first stage).
What’s Next?
- NSSL Phase 3: ULA and SpaceX are expected to remain key players, but new entrants (like Blue Origin and Rocket Lab) may compete in future contracts.
- Vulcan’s Schedule: ULA aims for a steady launch cadence, supporting both government and commercial payloads.
This certification solidifies Vulcan’s role in U.S. military space operations and ensures a smooth transition from the aging Atlas V. 🚀
The U.S. Space Force has certified United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket, allowing that vehicle to conduct national security missions.
The Space Force’s Space Systems Command announced March 26 it completed the long-awaited certification of Vulcan after analyzing data from the rocket’s two certification launches in January and October of 2024 as well as other reviews of the rocket’s development.
“Assured access to space is a core function of the Space Force and a critical element of national security,” Space Force Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen, the program executive officer for Assured Access to Space at Space Systems Command, said in a statement. “Vulcan certification adds launch capacity, resiliency and flexibility needed by our nation’s most critical space-based systems.”
ULA joins SpaceX in being certified to carry out launches under the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program.
That certification was delayed by an incident on the second Vulcan launch, Cert-2, when the nozzle of one of two solid rocket boosters fell off about half a minute into the flight. The vehicle compensated for diminished thrust that resulted from the missing nozzle and still completed its mission.
Tory Bruno, president and chief executive of United Launch Alliance, said at a March 12 media roundtable that a manufacturing defect in one of the internal parts of the nozzle, an insulator, caused the nozzle to come off. ULA and Northrop Grumman, which produces the boosters, took “appropriate corrective actions” that were confirmed in a static-fire test of a booster at a Northrop test site in Utah in February.
“Thank you to all our customer partners who have worked hand-in-hand with us throughout this comprehensive certification process. We are grateful for the collaboration and excited to reach this critical milestone in Vulcan development,” Bruno said in a ULA statement about the vehicle’s certification.
Bruno said at the roundtable that the next launch by ULA will be of its Atlas 5, carrying a set of Project Kuiper broadband satellites for Amazon. That launch is expected as soon as next month. He said then that would be followed by the first two Vulcan national security launches, missions designated USSF-106 and USSF-87.
ULA did not give a schedule for those upcoming Vulcan launches but Space Systems Command, in a summary accompanying its press release, said the first NSSL mission on Vulcan is planned for the summer. Bruno said at the roundtable that the payloads for those missions have “complex processing” requirements beyond a typical mission, and did not state how long it would take them to be ready for a launch.
Bruno said ULA is projecting a dozen launches this year, split roughly evenly between Atlas and Vulcan and between national security and commercial missions. ULA has been stockpiling components, such as BE-4 engines and solid rocket boosters, needed for those missions.
“We’re all staged up and ready, and as spacecraft show up, we’ll be able to fly them,” he said. He noted the company wants to get to a “baseline tempo” of two launches a month by the end of this year and perform 20 launches next year.
