Spaceflight Now reports, “NASA officially selected United Launch Alliance’s Centaur 5 as the upper stage for its Space Launch System rocket starting with the Artemis 4 mission, scheduled to launch no earlier than early 2028. The Centaur 5 was developed as the upper stage of ULA’s Vulcan rocket. The launch vehicle flew four times since its debut in January 2024 and the upper stage performed well across all flights.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Tag: ULA
ULA Atlas 5 Rocket Launches ViaSat-3
Spaceflight Now reports the mission was the second of three planned spacecraft that Viasat plans to operate in geostationary orbit. United Launch Alliance launched from pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station “at 10:04 p.m. EST (0304 UTC), the opening of a 44-minute-long window. The rocket headed due east upon leaving Florida’s Space Coast.”
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Video
ULA Atlas 5 launches ViaSat-3 F2 communications satellite. (Launch occurs at the 59:66 mark)
Spaceflight Now; YouTube
Space Force Announces SpaceX, ULA Assigned to First Set of Key Launches Beyond FY27
Breaking Defense reports, “The Space Force announced today that it has assigned the first seven future launches under its National Security Space Launch Program (NSSL) program for critical missions: five to SpaceX and two to United Launch Alliance (ULA). NSSL Phase 3 Lane 2 launches carry high-value, must-go payloads and/or those headed to orbits that are more difficult to achieve. The Space Force is using firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery contracts for these types of launches.”
Full Story (Breaking Defense)
ULA Undertaking New Efforts on Vulcan Reusability
Space News reports, “United Launch Alliance is leaning more into reusability as it advances work on recovering the engine section of the Vulcan rocket and embarks on another project. Tory Bruno, president and chief executive of ULA, said during an episode of his “The Burn Sequence” podcast published Aug. 19 that the company was working on a new initiative related to reuse of the Vulcan Centaur rocket beyond recovery of the engine section of the vehicle’s first stage.”
Full Story (Space News)
ULA Vulcan Rocket Launches on its First Mission for Space Force
Spaceflight Now reports, “Equipped with four solid-fuel strap-on boosters for additional takeoff power, the 198-foot-tall Vulcan’s two methane-fueled BE-4 engines thundered to life at 8:56p.m. EDT, instantly propelling the rocket away from pad 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Video
Launch of a ULA Vulcan rocket carrying the U.S. Space Force (USSF)-106 mission (Liftoff at 19:39)
ULA; YouTube
ULA Vulcan Set for Debut Launch for U.S. Space Force Next Week
Defense Daily reports, “The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket is to have its debut National Security Space Launch for the U.S. Space Force on Aug. 12 in carrying the USSF-106 mission to orbit. ULA said on Tuesday that the Aug. 12 launch from Cape Canaveral is ‘pending range approval.’”
Full Story (Defense Daily)
ULA Starts Stacking 1st Post-certification Vulcan Rocket
Spaceflight Now reports this is the second time the rocket is being prepared for launch following a months-long delay in certifying the launch vehicle. “It was previously readied in late October in support of the USSF-106 mission, the planned, first national security flight of a Vulcan rocket.”
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ULA to Launch Amazon’s Second Batch of Kuiper Internet Satellites
SPACE reports, “United Launch Alliance (ULA) is set to launch Amazon’s second group of satellites for its Kuiper internet satellite constellation today (June 16), and you can watch the action live. The 27 satellites, riding atop a ULA Atlas V rocket, are scheduled to lift off at 1:25 p.m. EDT (1725 GMT) today from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.”
Full Story (SPACE)
ULA Vulcan Receives Certification for US National Security Missions
Via Satellite reports, “The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket is now certified for U.S. national security missions after receiving certification from the U.S. Space Force. Space Systems Command’s (SSC) Assured Access to Space organization announced the certification on Wednesday for National Security Space Launch (NSSL) missions. ULA is now eligible to launch NSSL missions as one of two certified providers, the other being SpaceX.”
Full Story (Via Satellite)
ULA Awaits Space Force’s Certification of its New Vulcan Rocket
Ars Technica reports, “Last October, United Launch Alliance started stacking its third Vulcan rocket on a mobile launch platform in Florida in preparation for a mission for the US Space Force by the end of the year. That didn’t happen, and ULA is still awaiting the Space Force’s formal certification of its new rocket, further pushing out delivery schedules for numerous military satellites booked to fly to orbit on the Vulcan launcher.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)