ULA's Vulcan rocket prepares to resume flights

The return of Vulcan is scheduled nine months after a solid rocket booster failure disrupted the company's launch schedule for 2026. The launch is to take place from the U.S. Space Force Base at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Issues with the nozzles of solid rocket boosters occurred in two of the rocket's first four flights, most recently in February. In both cases, Vulcan completed its mission, but the U.S. Space Force, ULA's primary customer, saw its confidence in the rocket diminish.

The military plans to monitor the mission particularly closely. The Pentagon has assigned Vulcan approximately half of the major launches until the early 2030s; the rocket was certified for national security launches in 2025.

ULA engineers identified several possible causes of the February failure and made changes to the nozzle design and manufacturing processes. An upgraded version will be installed for the mission, with additional testing and analysis continuing in parallel.