ULA’s Vulcan Rocket Set for Critical Return-to-Flight Mission to Launch Amazon Satellites

Vulcan Returns to the Pad

United Launch Alliance (ULA) is scheduled to return its Vulcan rocket to flight on November 13, 2026. The launch, designated Vulcan Leo 1, ends a nine-month grounding triggered by recurring failures in the vehicle’s solid rocket boosters. Lifting off from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, the rocket will carry 40 satellites for Amazon’s broadband constellation.

Correcting Booster Nozzle Failures

The path to this flight required a deep dive into nozzle failures that plagued two of Vulcan’s first four missions. During the USSF-87 mission on February 12, 2026, an anomalous plume erupted from a Northrop Grumman-built GEM 63XL solid rocket booster (SRB) just 20 seconds after liftoff. A similar incident occurred during the rocket’s second flight on October 4, 2024.

ULA CEO Mark Peller told Aviation Week that the company, alongside Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Space Force, identified three credible causes for the vulnerabilities and took positive steps to mitigate all of them. ULA has since implemented design and process improvements to the nozzle that will face their first real-world test during the November mission.

Modifications to BE-4 Engines

Booster repairs were not the only hurdle. ULA also incorporated modifications to the Blue Origin-provided BE-4 main engines powering the Vulcan first stage. These changes followed a prelaunch explosion of a New Glenn rocket during a static fire test on May 28, 2026, which investigators traced to a main oxidizer valve. Peller confirmed to Aviation Week that the BE-4 engine and main oxidizer valve are common to the BE-4s flown on Vulcan.

Amazon’s Broadband Ambitions

Vulcan Leo 1 is the first of 38 flights on Vulcan’s manifest for Amazon to build its 3,236-satellite low Earth orbit broadband network. So far, about 12% of the constellation has been deployed over 14 launches, including eight by ULA’s Atlas V boosters, which are no longer in production. Despite the Vulcan program’s delays, Amazon has already integrated the 40 satellites for this mission inside the new Vertical Integration Facility-A at Cape Canaveral.

Uncertainty for National Security

While the Amazon mission proceeds, the timeline for U.S. Space Force launches remains unresolved. The Pentagon relies on Vulcan for roughly half of its major launches through the early 2030s and had certified the vehicle for national security missions in 2025—well before the February grounding. Peller indicated that future Space Force missions remain on hold. Whether the program resumes its full schedule depends on the performance results of this upcoming flight and whether further nozzle design tweaks will be required.

Northrop Grumman Targets Nozzle Production Through April

The timeline is expected to be dictated by Northrop Grumman’s production of new nozzles through April. The company also plans to expand operations to Vandenberg Space Force Base in the first quarter of 2027. For now, the focus remains on the performance of the Vulcan VC6L configuration—the first to feature six side-mounted solid rocket boosters—as the industry watches to see if nozzle improvements hold under flight conditions.

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