🚀 Space Missions: 2025's Epic Launch! 🛰️

Tech & Science

United Launch Alliance’s third Vulcan rocket lifted off on August 12, 2025, executing a national security mission for the U.S. Space Force. Credit: United Launch Alliance. Approximately one year prior, ULA officials projected 2025 would be the company’s most active year to date. Tory Bruno, ULA’s chief executive, indicated the company anticipated launching as many as 20 missions during the year, with roughly an even distribution between the legacy Atlas V launcher and its replacement, the Vulcan rocket. As of late 2025, ULA is expected to conclude the year with six flights: five utilizing the Atlas V and a single mission featuring the Vulcan rocket – a vehicle the company is keen to accelerate into full service. This would represent ULA’s busiest launch year since 2022, though it remains significantly below the company’s initial forecast. Last week, ULA announced its next launch is scheduled for December 15th, when an Atlas V will deploy a new batch of broadband satellites for the Amazon Leo network (formerly known as Project Kuiper) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. This launch will mark ULA’s final mission of the year. The Vulcan rocket’s first national security mission occurred on August 12th, when it launched an experimental military navigation satellite and at least one additional classified payload into orbit—the third flight of the Vulcan rocket and its first following the U.S. Space Force’s formal certification of the launch vehicle.

ULA is one of the Space Force’s two certified launch providers for the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program, responsible for delivering vital satellites to orbit for reconnaissance, navigation, communications, and early warning – missions considered the military’s most critical. SpaceX, the other provider, has launched its Falcon 9 rocket fleet 151 times this year, including six launches specifically for the Space Force’s NSSL program. Currently, a Vulcan rocket stands on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, awaiting the launch of USSF-87, which will deploy two so-called GSSAP satellites designed to conduct reconnaissance of other objects, including classified Russian and Chinese satellites, in geosynchronous orbit. These satellites represent some of the Space Force’s most valuable assets, particularly as space surveillance continues to gain increasing importance. The Vulcan rocket’s launch schedule has been impacted by a malfunction on its second test flight in October 2024, when one of the rocket’s strap-on solid rocket boosters failed. Despite this issue, the Vulcan continued its ascent into orbit, with the liquid-fueled main engines compensating for the lost thrust. Engineers identified the problem as a manufacturing defect in an insulator on the solid rocket motor, and telemetry data from the subsequent August flight displayed “spot-on” performance. Importantly, the delay in Vulcan launches is not due to production issues; ULA maintains a significant inventory of hardware for multiple Vulcan rockets stored at Cape Canaveral.

Space Force Station, Florida, is at the center of recent developments surrounding ULA’s Vulcan rocket program. Since 2022, the Force’s GSSAP satellites—the next GPS satellite slated to fly on the Vulcan—have been available for launch, and teams are currently analyzing hardware and data from previous missions to assess the flightworthiness of future missions, as stated by a Space Systems Command spokesperson. The spokesperson confirmed that “appropriate actions are being executed to ensure a successful USSF-87 mission.” Notably, a direct response was not given when Ars inquired about inspections of the solid rocket motors from the most recent Vulcan flight. ULA is also experiencing delays related to the outfitting of a new rocket assembly hangar and a second mobile launch platform for the Vulcan rocket at Cape Canaveral. To manage its substantial launch backlog, ULA requires the capacity to stack and prepare at least two rockets simultaneously across different buildings, with the company’s long-term goal of launching at an average of twice per month. On Monday, ground crews moved the second Vulcan launch platform to the company’s launch pad for fit checks and initial technical testing—a positive indication of progress toward increasing the launch cadence; however, this shift now makes it clear that a Vulcan launch will not occur this year. As is typical for new rockets, Vulcan’s slow launch rate since its first flight in January 2024 is due to the inherent challenges associated with establishing a reliable operational rate.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and ULA’s Atlas V are poised for their fourth flight, aligning with a timeline similar to that of the Vulcan vehicle, which is scheduled to reach its fourth flight in May 2026. The Delta IV rocket from ULA flew its fourth mission 25 months after its debut in 2002. In contrast, Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket reached its fourth flight in just 16 months, yet it shares a greater degree of similarity with its predecessor than the other rockets. Notably, SpaceX’s Starship also demonstrated a rapid development pace, achieving its fourth test flight less than 14 months following its initial launch.