United Launch Alliance plans to return its Vulcan rocket to service on November 13, nine months after a solid rocket booster anomaly disrupted the company’s 2026 launch schedule. The mission, which requires range approval, will carry 40 satellites for Amazon’s Leo Broadband Constellation and serve as a critical test of the rocket after nozzle failures on two of its first four flights.
Vulcan set to carry Amazon satellites
The launch is scheduled to take place from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. It will be the first of 38 Vulcan flights Amazon has booked to deploy most of its broadband satellite network.
The mission is also important for ULA because its new flagship rocket experienced solid rocket booster nozzle failures during flights in February and on one of its three earlier missions. In both cases, the rockets overcame the failures and completed their missions. However, the incidents caused officials at ULA’s primary customer, the U.S. Space Force, to lose confidence in Vulcan.
Space Force officials are expected to closely scrutinize the return-to-flight mission. The Pentagon has commissioned ULA’s Vulcan rockets to conduct about half of its major launches through the early 2030s.
The Space Force certified Vulcan for national security launches in 2025. The rocket flew two missions for the service before being grounded following the booster incident in February.
ULA reports progress on booster investigation
United Launch Alliance said engineers have made “significant progress” in understanding the February booster anomaly. The team “identified several potential causes, which were mitigated through nozzle design and process improvements,” ULA said in a statement.
“To support our customers, this launch will utilize an improved nozzle design, and additional testing and analysis will continue in parallel with the mission,” ULA said. “By flying improved designs, ULA will gain valuable flight data to validate these improvements, which is the most beneficial path forward in supporting all of our customers.”
Source: arstechnica.com