The Space Force is pressing pause on all military launches on United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket as officials investigate a recent anomaly they say could take “many months” to resolve.
United Launch Alliance
United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket flew its second Space Force mission in the early hours of Feb. 12, carrying multiple Space Force payloads to geosynchronous orbit.
United Launch Alliance executives say the firm is “well positioned for the future” despite falling short of its projected launch cadence in 2025 and seeing longtime CEO Tory Bruno depart in early January for competitor Blue Origin.
The Space Force recently awarded SpaceX $739 million to launch nine missions for the Space Development Agency and National Reconnaissance Office over the next three years. Five of the awarded launches will be to build out SDA’s constellation of missile warning and tracking satellites in ...
United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan Centaur rocket is slated to fly its second national security mission in February—nearly six months after its first operational launch and almost a year after it was certified to fly military payloads for the Space Force.
The successful second flight of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket on Nov. 13 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., also included a first for the company—the launcher’s booster stuck its landing on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Space Force issued contracts to SpaceX and United Launch Alliance worth more than $1 billion to launch military space missions starting in fiscal 2027.
The Space Force hopes to celebrate a pair of major milestones with a single mission Aug. 12: its first launch with the new Vulcan Centaur rocket, and the first launch of an experimental navigation satellite in nearly 50 years.
The Space Force awarded three contracts for rocket launches worth up to a combined $13.68 billion on April 4—and the usual players SpaceX and United Launch Alliance have got some competition in the form of newcomer Blue Origin.
The Space Force has certified United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket for its most important national security launches—clearing the way for a series of missions this year and giving SpaceX a little competition.
The Space Force successfully launched its seventh GPS III satellite into orbit Dec. 16—shaving more than a year and a half off the typical timeline for launching the highest priority national security spacecraft and switching rocket providers to do it.
The Space Force is preparing to award billions of dollars in launch contracts by the end of this year—provided Congress passes a budget. By the end of 2024, Space Systems Command wants to award a contract for the next phase of its National Security Space ...