Overview
- United Launch Alliance announced the Vulcan rocket will attempt a return-to-flight on Friday, Nov. 13, carrying 40 Amazon LEO satellites from Cape Canaveral.
- Vulcan was grounded earlier in 2026 after repeated nozzle anomalies on Northrop Grumman-built solid rocket boosters caused a performance anomaly on the Feb. 12 USSF-87 mission.
- An industry-government team from ULA, Northrop Grumman, and the U.S. Space Force investigated the failures and applied design and process mitigations that include an improved SRB nozzle for the upcoming flight.
- The Space Force has moved several missions originally slated for Vulcan to SpaceX Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets to protect military schedules while it reviews new flight telemetry.
- Amazon’s commercial flights will provide the in-flight data ULA and the Space Force need to validate fixes, and how those results read will shape when Vulcan is cleared again for sensitive government launches.