ULA's Vulcan rocket certified by Space Force to fly national security missions
After launching on its certification flight back in October 2024, United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket has finally received approval by the United States Space Force to fly national security missions.
'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,' Tory Bruno, ULA CEO, said in a Wednesday news release.
National security missions are the main purpose of ULA's new workhorse rocket, which will eventually replace both the Atlas V rocket and the already retired Delta IV.
'Vulcan is uniquely designed to meet the challenging requirements demanded by an expanding spectrum of missions for U.S. national security space launches," said Bruno.
When is the next Florida launch? Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, NASA rocket launch schedule at Cape Canaveral
ULA and the Space Force team have completed 52 certification criteria, the news release said. This includes: more than 180 distinct tasks, two certification flights (January and October of 2024), 60 payload interface requirement verifications, 18 subsystem design and test reviews, and 114 hardware and software audits.
What sets Vulcan apart from other rockets, according to ULA, is its powerful Centaur V upper-stage, which allows it to fly complex orbital missions.
'Vulcan's Centaur upper stage is a high-velocity and maneuverable platform to address evolving on-orbit threats in this new space warfighting domain and will offer extreme on-orbit endurance and flexibility,' Bruno is quoted in the release.
The road has not been without bumps for ULA. During Vulcan's second launch for Space Force certification on Oct. 4, 2024, spectators near Cape Canaveral witnessed an anomaly shortly after liftoff.
About 38 seconds after launch, a bright flash, followed by sparks, were seen coming from the side of the rocket. While the flight successfully continued, reaching orbit, the issue was investigated by ULA and teams to understand the root cause.
The investigation found that there was an issue inside the nozzle on the solid rocket booster. Unlike SpaceX Falcon 9 — which is fully liquid propellant — ULA's Vulcan rocket utilizes solid rocket boosters at liftoff.
According to Bruno, a manufacturing defect on a part in the engine nozzle of the solid rocket motor was to blame for the October incident. He said they are taking corrective actions for future flights.
Vulcan will be able to fly with two, four, or six solid rocket boosters. It will also be able to fly without any additional boost from solid rocket boosters at all.
Between the remaining Atlas V rockets and upcoming Vulcan launches, ULA has 70 launches on its manifest. Some 47 of these will be for Amazon's Kuiper internet satellites.
For now, there is not currently a set launch date for ULA's Vulcan or Atlas V. Bruno stated earlier in March that Vulcan will fly later in the year.
Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: ULA's Vulcan rocket certified by U.S. Space Force to launch missions
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