Space Force Halts National Security Missions on ULA’s Vulcan Rocket Until Anomaly Resolved

(Aurora, Colorado) The U.S. Space Force announced yesterday (Feb. 25) that it is halting national security launches on United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rockets after a booster malfunction reoccurred during the vehicle’s most recent mission, USSF-87 on February 12th.

Image of ULA’s recent USSF-87 mission, launched February 12th, courtesy of spaceflight photographer Michael Cain and FLYJETS / The FLY Report.

ULA’s new Vulcan Centaur rocket debuted in January 2024 and has since launched four times; on two of the last four missions, Vulcan suffered an anomaly in one of its solid rocket boosters during flight, according to Space.com.

Although the rocket’s core-stage engines managed to compensate both times, leading to overall mission success, the reoccurrence has raised eyebrows at the Space Force, which is pressing pause on the Vulcan missions it has lined up until ULA can get to the bottom of things, according to Space.com.

"This is going to be a many-months process as we work through the exact technical issue that happened and the corrective actions we need to make sure, we need to take, to make sure this doesn’t happen again," Space Force Col. Eric Zarybnisky said during a media round robin during the Air Force Association’s Warfare Symposium on Feb. 25, as reported by Breaking Defense.

ULA’s February 12th launch of USSF-87 carried two Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) neighborhood watch satellites; yesterday, Lt. Gen. Greg Gagnon, head of Space Force Combat Forces Command, disclosed that the mission also included a first: a prototype of a highly maneuverable satellite to be operated by his delta responsible for orbital warfare, Mission Delta 9, according to Breaking Defense.