The last time Vulcan launched was October 2024, which was the second-ever flight of the vehicle. In the time since then, we haven’t heard much regarding future missions or what to expect. That being said, not long from now, the company is hoping to begin a consistent launch cadence of up to two launches a month.
Throughout this year, ULA has been building up a stockpile of core stages, BE-4 engines, solid rocket boosters, and even working on new infrastructure, all to support a rapid increase in the number of Vulcan launches.
Launches Are “Soon”
While specific updates on Vulcan have been somewhat slim in recent months, ULA CEO Tory Bruno has been sharing some info on what to expect. Just a few days ago, for example, he posted an image inside the Decatur Rocket Factory in the final assembly aisle. Here, you could see multiple just about complete Vulcan core stages on both sides. He clarified that the left section has been all Vulcans from the start of production, and the right side is now starting to fill with them as well as the Atlas vehicles are phased out. When asked how flight-ready these vehicles are, Tory responded with “Ready”.
What’s interesting is that despite the Vulcans featured in this image being just about flight ready, they aren’t even set to be used for another 3 missions or so. In other words, in addition to the stages seen, simultaneously, in Florida, there are at least 3 more Vulcans even further ahead, preparing for flight.
In terms of the expected launch cadence later this year, the company is hoping to start launching very frequently. When asked if there was a timeline for the next Vulcan launch, Tory responded, “Yes. Busy year. A couple of USG missions after the upcoming (2nd) Kuiper Atlas. Then, we’ll swing back to Kuiper Vulcan. And continue back and forth through the end of the year” he said.
When he mentions USG missions, he’s referring to the United States Government, or U.S. Space Force missions, set to begin after the next Atlas launch. Currently, that Atlas launch with Kuiper satellites is scheduled to liftoff less than a week from now, on June 13. This suggests that in the next few months, we could begin to see Vulcan start upping its cadence. When asked about providing a specific launch date for Vulcan, Tory responded, “Soon. Customers will announce launch dates.”
Even without set dates, it’s clear the company is getting ready for a busy schedule. When asked about the current lack of launches and what would lead to a sudden increase in cadence, Tory responded by saying, “2x VIFs, 3x MLPs, 4x SRM production – current stockpile of 50 units, 3x engine production, 3x vehicle production – expanded and modernized factory – current stockpile of 15 vehilces, 2x transportation – 3x by Q1, 1/3x processing span at Cape, etc.”
Within this one comment, there’s a lot to unpack. The first part highlights the Vertical Integration Facility and Mobile Launch Platforms. The company expects an increase in launch cadence large enough to warrant multiple launch platforms in addition to other core infrastructure upgrades. In a statement, the company said, “ULA’s second launch processing capability uses a new Vulcan Launch Platform tailored to support specific mission configurations and to meet demand for a higher launch rate cadence for Amazon’s Project Kuiper and other commercial customers.” Not to mention other infrastructure upgrades, including construction at SLC-3 on the west coast to support Vulcan, a roof extension at the Vertical Integration Facility, extra ground and communication intefaces, and more.
Focusing back on the comment from Tory, he then mentions a stockpile of 50 units for Solid Rocket Motors or boosters. In the images he provided, you can see lines of these SRMs within a large warehouse. Multiple variants are complete, including GEM63s as well as 63XLs.
He also talked about an increase in engine production alongside vehicle production. Originally, there was some concern related to Blue Origin’s ability to keep up with BE-4 demand. This had to do with the fact that not only does ULA need two engines per Vulcan, but Blue Origin also needs 7 per New Glenn booster. However, it seems for the most part they have been able to deliver. When asked about BE-4 engine delivery Tory said, “We generally mount them to a booster within a few days of each pair coming in.” This suggests that the engines could be coming in quicker, but it’s not a huge deal. Overall, it seems the hardware is ready, and with that, launches should follow.
Launch Demand
Vulcan already has tens of missions scheduled, meaning once they start launching again, we could very well see that expected increase in cadence. One of the biggest customers is the U.S. government. Only a few months ago in March, Vulcan was officially certified for NSSL missions. Specifically, they were quoted saying, We have “announced the certification of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan launch system for National Security Space Launch missions. ULA is now eligible to launch NSSL missions as one of two certified providers.”
“Vulcan’s certification is the culmination of several years of effort by the Space Force and ULA, which encompassed 52 certification criteria, including more than 180 discrete tasks, 2 certification flight demonstrations, 60 payload interface requirement verifications, 18 subsystem design and test reviews and 114 hardware and software audits, all to establish the technical baseline from which the Space Force will make future flight worthiness determinations for launch” they said.
Some of the missions on the manifest include USSF-106, 87, 114, 112, and many more. As soon as next month, we could see the launch of USSF-106. In this case, a few weeks ago in May, a report came out related to the Air Force and upcoming launches. Here they were quoted saying, “The first NSSL Vulcan mission is USSF-106 with an ILC date in July 2025. This would mark the return of Vulcan and hopefully the start of consistent launches.
All that being said, it’s important to highlight that Vulcan should have already been launching much more frequently by now. In that same statement, they were quoted saying, “In NSSL Phase 2, the ULA Vulcan program has performed unsatisfactorily this past year. Major issues with the Vulcan have overshadowed its successful certification, resulting in delays to the launch of four national security missions. Despite the retirement of highly successful Atlas and Delta launch vehicles, the transition to Vulcan has been slow and continues to impact the completion of Space Force mission objectives.”
They go on to say, “To address these challenges, ULA has increased its engineering resources and management focus to resolve design issues. Government and Federally Funded Research and Development Center personnel have increased involvement in technical and program management challenges. ULA has also lost launch opportunities on the NSSL Phase 3, Lane 1 contract due to not having a certified launch vehicle until April 2025” they said.
There was also the launch anomaly on the last Vulcan flight back in October. In that case, ULA flew a mass simulator. Not long into the flight, the nozzle on one of the solid rocket boosters broke off, resulting in a shower of debris in the exhaust plume. While the SRB continued to function for its full 90-second burn, the anomaly led to reduced, asymmetrical thrust. This caused the rocket to slightly tilt before the guidance system and main engines successfully corrected and extended their burn by roughly 20 seconds to compensate. Fortunately for the company, despite the anomaly, the rocket achieved nominal orbital insertion, with the Space Force praising the launch and “the robustness of the total Vulcan system.”
Either way, these various issues have held back the program so far this year, something they are hoping to change not long from now.
When Vulcan does eventually begin launching again, and ups its cadence, we could begin seeing work to improve the vehicle. For example, the current rocket is fully expendable, however, the company has hinted over time about partial reuse.
Yesterday, when asked if ULA was currently designing or prototyping a reusable part of the vehicle, Tory responded by saying, “Yes.” In all likelihood, he’s referring to Sensible Modular Autonomous Return Technology (SMART). This is technology they have been working on for a while now that would involve separating and retrieving the engine section of the vehicle.
On an actual mission, after separation, the nose assembly extends to position the hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator (HIAD) such that it will clear the separation plane when inflated. Preliminary results indicate a 10 – 12 meter HIAD will be required to recover the booster module. From here, it would continue through Earth’s atmosphere before parachute deployment. This would slow down the two BE-4s and additional technology significantly before a planned soft water landing. Here, they would float on an inflatable aeroshell before being recovered by ULA and taken back to land for refurbishment.
Back in 2024, Tory was quoted saying, “In terms of our engine recovery, that is going to happen within a handful of years. I don’t want to say exactly when because it’s part of the contract we have with one of our customers at this time, and we’re not releasing the details of that. But it will take a couple of years to actually be reusing the engine,” he said.
Based on these statements along with even more recent comments, it seems like the company is continuing to work on this technology and actual testing could be relatively soon. Something that would not only save some money but also help increase Vulcan’s launch cadence.
Conclusion
Even though Vulcan hasn’t launched yet in 2025, the company looks like it’s only a month or two away from a significant ramp-up in cadence. They have quite the stockpile of vehicles and boosters, not to mention infrastructure upgrades happening around the country.