ULA Launch Delay Leaves US Military Satellite Grounded
▼ Summary
– The US Space Force has reassigned the launch of a critical GPS satellite from United Launch Alliance (ULA) to SpaceX due to ULA’s inability to perform the launch.
– This marks the fourth recent GPS satellite launch shifted from ULA to SpaceX, following similar reassignments of three other GPS missions starting in 2024.
– ULA’s Vulcan rocket is currently grounded for the second time in under two years, following two separate in-flight failures of its solid rocket boosters.
– An investigation into the first booster failure identified a manufacturing defect, and a similar issue is suspected in the second, with the full probe expected to take many months.
– The Space Force will not use the Vulcan rocket for its payloads until the booster investigation is complete, prioritizing assured access to space.
The US Space Force has once again shifted a critical satellite launch to SpaceX, marking the fourth time in just over a year that a planned United Launch Alliance mission has been delayed. This latest move involves the final satellite for the GPS Block III program, a cornerstone of the military’s navigation network. Space Systems Command confirmed the reassignment to a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, highlighting ongoing challenges for ULA in meeting its launch commitments for national security payloads.
This situation is not an isolated incident. The three most recent GPS satellites were also originally slated for ULA’s new Vulcan rocket. Starting in 2024, the Space Force transferred those missions to SpaceX. In a related contractual adjustment, military officials moved three future launches from SpaceX over to ULA, including the specific mission for the GPS III SV10 satellite. However, with the Vulcan rocket now grounded for the second time in less than two years, that GPS SV10 launch has been moved back to SpaceX. As part of this latest realignment, ULA will retain the right to launch a classified military mission scheduled for 2028.
The current disruptions stem from issues that have plagued the Vulcan rocket’s path to operational service. Space Systems Command assigned launches for these final four GPS satellites several years ago, when Vulcan’s first test flight seemed imminent. That debut was repeatedly postponed from 2020 until early 2024. Since achieving flight, the rocket’s journey has been rocky. On both its second and fourth flights—occurring in October 2024 and last month—the Vulcan experienced serious problems with its solid rocket boosters.
An investigation into the first failure determined a manufacturing defect caused the booster’s exhaust nozzle to fail shortly after liftoff. While officials have not released formal findings from the probe into the second, more recent incident, early indications suggest a similar cause. In both cases, the Vulcan’s core stage was able to compensate for the booster anomalies, ultimately delivering its payloads to orbit successfully. Nonetheless, the recurrence of the same failure type across multiple flights has raised significant concerns within the Pentagon.
The repeat nature of these technical issues has directly impacted launch schedules. Last month, the senior Space Force officer overseeing the military’s launch program stated the booster investigation would likely take “many months” to complete. As a result, the Space Force has instituted a hold on launching any further payloads aboard the Vulcan until the root cause is fully understood and resolved. This pause underscores the military’s principle of assured access to space, a non-negotiable requirement that currently favors the proven reliability of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 for these time-sensitive missions.
(Source: Ars Technica)
