United Launch Alliance announced Wednesday that it plans to return its Vulcan rocket to Nov. 13, nine months after a solid rocket booster anomaly threw the company’s 2026 launch plan into oblivion.
The return-to-flight mission will launch 40 satellites for the Amazon Leo broadband constellation, the first of 38 volcano flights Amazon has booked to deploy most of its network. The mission will lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, and ULA said the launch date is subject to range approval.
The launch is critical for ULA after its new flagship rocket experienced nozzle failures on its solid rocket boosters on two of its first four missions, most recently during a flight in February. In both cases, the rocket overcame the nozzle failure and completed its mission, but officials at the US Space Force, ULA’s primary customer, lost confidence in the Vulcan.
Space Force officials will closely monitor Vulcan’s return-to-flight mission. The Pentagon has entrusted ULA’s Vulcan rocket for about half of its major launches through the early 2030s. The Space Force certified the Vulcan rocket for national security launches in 2025, then flew two missions to Vulcan before its grounding after the February booster incident.
take steps
In a statement, United Launch Alliance said engineers have “made great strides” in understanding the booster anomaly that occurred in February. Engineers “identified several potential employees that were reduced by design and process improvements to the nozzle,” ULA said.
“To support our customers, this upcoming launch will use the improved nozzle design, and additional testing and analysis will continue in parallel with the mission,” ULA said. “By flying the improved design, ULA receives valuable flight data that validates these improvements and is the most beneficial way to support all of our customers.”