WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force is bracing for delays in launching key national security payloads aboard United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan rocket, Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, head of the Space Force’s Space Systems Command, said Nov. 21 during a meeting with reporters.
The Space Force is now preparing for a likely 2025 Vulcan national security launch debut instead of the originally planned 2024 launches.
Garrant said ULA’s Vulcan remains on track for certification. The rocket’s second certification launch in October was technically successful, with the payload reaching its intended orbit. However, an anomaly with one of the solid rocket boosters continues to be reviewed.
The anomaly itself isn’t a showstopper for certification, said Garrant. But the cumulative delays and uncertainties are a concern, he said, “as we aim to maintain assured access to space with two certified providers.”
For now, the Space Force relies solely on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets for NSSL missions. This dependency underscores the urgency of Vulcan’s certification to meet the program’s two-provider mandate.
Under the NSSL Phase 2 contract awarded in 2020, ULA and SpaceX split a slate of about 35 missions. ULA has only launched one of these on its legacy Atlas 5 rocket, leaving as many as 25 launches still to be completed by Vulcan by fiscal year 2027.
Two missions—USSF-106 and USSF-87—are currently waiting in the wings, with payloads ready but no confirmed launch dates
ULA was targeting a November launch for USSF-106. But with only six weeks left in the year, a 2024 launch window is increasingly unlikely, said Garrant.
Despite the challenges, Garrant remains cautiously optimistic. “We are working with ULA to evaluate the data from their second flight, and they are making significant progress towards certification,” he noted.
NSSL Phase 3 awards on hold
Beyond Phase 2, it’s still unclear whether Vulcan’s challenges would impact ULA’s standing in the upcoming NSSL Phase 3 procurement. This next phase, known as Lane 2, will allocate contracts for the most demanding heavy-lift missions, with up to three providers sharing the workload. ULA and SpaceX are the frontrunners, with new entrant Blue Origin seeking to certify its New Glenn rocket and become a third provider.
Garrant said the timeline for the multibillion-dollar Lane 2 awards has also slipped. He confirmed that the Pentagon won’t finalize contracts until Congress passes a full appropriations bill for fiscal year 2025. The government is currently operating under a continuing resolution, set to expire Dec. 20, and political gridlock may extend budget negotiations well into next year.
“We’re not going to award Lane 2 until we have a full appropriation,” Garrant stressed. “We don’t plan to award Lane 2 under a continuing resolution.”
