United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) new Vulcan rocket will not deliver any Space Force payloads to space within the year 2023, company officials confirmed late Thursday evening. This postponement means that the planned national security launches will now occur in 2024.
On the same day, Space Force officials indicated potential issues with ULA’s capability to launch national security missions. Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, commander of Space Systems Command, disclosed during a Defense Writers Group event, “With only six weeks left to go in the calendar year, we are getting challenged to be able to launch this year.”
Originally, ULA’s Vulcan was scheduled to conduct two Space Force missions—USSF-106 and USSF-87—by the close of 2024. However, the rocket has yet to receive certification following its second flight in October, due to an investigation into an abnormality where material detached from one of its solid rocket boosters. Garrant expressed confidence that the Vulcan would eventually be certified, but the timeline remains uncertain, stating, “If they are not launching by the end of the year, we would delay those [Space Force] launches.”
Vulcan is a crucial part of ULA’s strategy to compete with SpaceX, which has dominated the launch market in recent years. The Space Force is seeking to involve more launch providers through its National Space Security Launch (NSSL) program, having already selected SpaceX, ULA, and Blue Origin for the initial NSSL Phase 3 launches in “Lane 1,” designated for less risky missions. Garrant mentioned that awards for “Lane 2,” which concerns more challenging heavy-lift missions, are currently on hold pending Congressional budget approval.
As of now, SpaceX is the only certified provider for Lane 2 missions. ULA and Blue Origin, the latter of which aims to launch its New Glenn rocket for the first time before year-end, are both working toward certification.
In the meantime, SpaceX is advancing its reusable mega-rocket, Starship, which is expected to transform space operations with its considerable payload capacity. Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman visited SpaceX facilities in Texas recently to observe Starship’s sixth flight test alongside President-elect Donald Trump. SpaceX achieved a milestone in October by successfully catching a Starship rocket.
Although SpaceX has not yet approached the Space Force regarding Starship certification, Garrant noted, “They are doing many, many flights, which is a means to certification…we are absolutely watching them very carefully. It’s a phenomenal capability to [low Earth orbit], large, large numbers of satellites. It’ll be a gamechanger. We are thinking about how we might use it.”
He elaborated that the most reasonable application for Starship’s payload volume would be as a type of rocket cargo delivery system, demonstrating the military’s interest in its potential utility. The Air Force Research Laboratory has been exploring this concept through its Rocket Cargo program, awarding SpaceX a $102 million contract in 2022 to investigate the use of its vehicles for cargo transport, which has since evolved under the Space Force’s upcoming 2025 budget request as “Point to Point Delivery.”
