Space Force Shifts Six Vulcan Missions to SpaceX During Defense Grounding

The U.S. Space Force has shifted six near-term national-security launches from United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur to SpaceX while Vulcan remains barred from carrying operational defense payloads. The October 21 manifest change protects time-critical schedules, but it does not cancel ULA’s contracted work: later missions are being reserved for Vulcan once the rocket is cleared.

The immediate constraint is technical. During the February 12 USSF-87 launch, one of Vulcan’s Northrop Grumman GEM 63XL solid rocket boosters suffered a visible nozzle failure shortly after liftoff. Vulcan still reached orbit, but the event was the second reported nozzle irregularity in four flights, following a similar observation during the Cert-2 demonstration in late 2024.

That repeat concern prompted military officials to suspend operational defense launches on Vulcan while ULA and Northrop Grumman conduct structural analysis and hot-fire validation of the nozzle. Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, commander of Space Systems Command, did not disclose interim investigation findings when he discussed the mission changes.

A commercial flight is not automatic military clearance

ULA has since announced a November 13 commercial Vulcan launch using an improved nozzle design. That establishes a planned return to flight, but not a date for renewed national-security service. Space Force officials expect to evaluate ground-test work and data from initial commercial missions before deciding when Vulcan can again carry operational military payloads.

The distinction reflects the government’s mission-assurance burden. A rocket can complete a commercial flight while the Space Force continues reviewing whether its configuration and supporting analysis satisfy the risk limits of a particular defense payload. Certification and mission approval involve major subsystem reviews, flight evidence and verification that the vehicle meets payload-interface requirements. A successful commercial mission would add useful data; it would not by itself assign Vulcan another defense launch.

Space Systems Command’s response is therefore a manifest trade rather than a winner-take-all procurement decision. Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy are already certified for these missions, allowing SpaceX to absorb launches that cannot remain tied to Vulcan’s review. In exchange, ULA receives later national-security work intended to fly after Vulcan is recertified.

Four previously identified moves illustrate how that flexibility is being used: the final GPS III satellite, a Space Development Agency tracking mission, the Oracle-M cislunar pathfinder payload stack and a Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared satellite were shifted to Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy assignments. Some involve moving an entire mission; others involve transferring a payload to a different mission. The six-mission adjustment extends that schedule-management approach.

Why the Space Force is preserving ULA’s later work

The arrangement supports a broader requirement than simply launching the next available satellite. Federal policy calls for maintaining at least two launch vehicles capable of delivering any national-security payload, according to the Congressional Research Service’s National Security Space Launch primer. SpaceX and ULA currently provide the two certified vehicle families for the full range of these missions, while Blue Origin’s New Glenn is undergoing certification.

Moving urgent launches to an available provider preserves schedule access. Keeping later work assigned to ULA preserves the second-provider capacity that the government’s launch policy is designed to maintain. Permanently stripping work from Vulcan could weaken that longer-term redundancy, while waiting indefinitely for Vulcan would expose satellite programs to a rocket investigation with no confirmed military clearance date.

The trade also limits how much can be concluded about public cost. No price for the six transfers has been released, so their financial effect cannot be calculated. The confirmed procurement consequence is narrower: Space Systems Command rearranged existing work instead of canceling ULA’s contracts and initiating a broader replacement process.

Mission swaps still carry engineering and scheduling burdens. A payload must be compatible with a different rocket’s structural loads, vibration environment, interfaces and integration calendar. Space Force officials have said transfers can move quickly when that analysis has already been completed, but missions with harder technical requirements may not be readily interchangeable.

Falcon operations have been reorganized for a higher workload as well. Space Systems Command projected seven to nine national-security missions annually on Falcon vehicles during 2025 and 2026 and created a unified team spanning East and West Coast launch operations. That provides an operational foundation for accepting additional assignments, although each transferred payload still requires its own integration and assurance work.

Meanwhile, the Space Force is broadening its future launch bench. Its less complex, more risk-tolerant Phase 3 Lane 1 contract now includes seven providers, according to a Space Systems Command announcement. Most cannot yet substitute for Vulcan on the most demanding missions, but the expansion shows why provider diversity is being built before a launcher becomes unavailable.

For now, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy carry the near-term schedule burden, and ULA retains a route back onto the military manifest. That route still runs through nozzle validation, flight data and Space Force approval none of which yet provides an official date for Vulcan’s return to operational defense launches.

By David Whitaker — Associate editor for AMI’s aerospace and drone systems desk, translating flight systems, aircraft programs, spaceflight, and UAV developments into accessible technical stories.