Tag: Vulcan
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With new contracts, SpaceX will become the US military’s top launch provider
The US Space Force announced Friday it selected SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, and Blue Origin for $13.7 billion in contracts to deliver the Pentagon’s most critical military satellites to orbit into the early 2030s. These missions will launch the government’s heaviest national security satellites, like the National Reconnaissance Office’s large, bus-sized spy platforms, and deploy…
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With new contracts, SpaceX will become the US military’s top launch provider
The US Space Force announced Friday it selected SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, and Blue Origin for $13.7 billion in contracts to deliver the Pentagon’s most critical military satellites to orbit into the early 2030s. These missions will launch the government’s heaviest national security satellites, like the National Reconnaissance Office’s large, bus-sized spy platforms, and deploy…
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U.S. Space Force certifies ULA’s Vulcan rocket to begin launching national security missions
Vulcan climbs away from Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station shortly after sunrise on Oct. 4, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now. In an announcement highly anticipated by United Launch Alliance and others in the spaceflight community, the U.S. Space Force’s Assured Access to Space (AATS) office affirmed that the Vulcan…
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Dream Chaser completes more pre-flight milestones
Testing continues ahead of the first flight of Dream Chaser. The so-called “mini shuttle” will be the first spacecraft to dock to the International Space Station (ISS) and then land back at the Launch and Landing Facility (LLF), formerly the Shuttle Landing Facility, since the retirement of the Space Shuttle program in 2011. Tenacity, the…
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Rocket Report: ULA confirms cause of booster anomaly; Crew-10 launch on tap
Welcome to Edition 7.35 of the Rocket Report! SpaceX’s steamroller is still rolling, but for the first time in many years, it doesn’t seem like it’s rolling downhill. After a three-year run of perfect performance—with no launch failures or any other serious malfunctions—SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has suffered a handful of issues in recent months.…
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GEM-63XL motor test fired at Promontory as part of Vulcan Cert-2 investigation
After Vulcan’s otherwise successful second certification mission (Cert-2) on Oct. 4, 2024, was marred by a nozzle separation on one of the rocket’s GEM-63XL solid rocket boosters, questions arose about how and whether this would impact Vulcan’s certification for national security missions. The third Vulcan flight was supposed to start the United Launch Alliance’s (ULA)…
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ULA’s Vulcan rocket still doesn’t have the Space Force’s seal of approval
Last October, United Launch Alliance started stacking its third Vulcan rocket on a mobile launch platform in Florida in preparation for a mission for the US Space Force by the end of the year. That didn’t happen, and ULA is still awaiting the Space Force’s formal certification of its new rocket, further pushing out delivery…
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ULA begins de-stacking Vulcan rocket, pivots to Atlas 5 launch of Amazon’s Kuiper satellites for first 2025 mission
United Launch Alliance (ULA) hoists its Centaur V upper stage atop the Vulcan first stage booster into the Government Vertical Integration Facility (VIF-G) at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida on Nov. 1, 2024. Image: United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance is shifting its launch plans to begin 2025. On Friday,…
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Space Force says first national security Vulcan launch now anticipated in spring 2025
United Launch Alliance (ULA) hoists its Vulcan first stage booster into the Vertical Integration Facility-G (VIF-G) adjacent to Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The rocket will launch the USSF-106 mission for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command, Vulcan’s first national security flight. Image: United Launch Alliance The first national…
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U.S. Space Force launches expedited GPS mission using Falcon 9 rocket
The GPS 3 Space Vehicle 07 stands in a clean room at Lockheed Martin’s facilities in Littleton, Colorado. Image: Lockheed Martin The latest third-generation Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite launched to orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Monday night. Unlike previous GPS missions though, the launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket marked a…