Shuffling the deck
Space Systems Command has moved four launches of new GPS navigation satellites from ULA to SpaceX in the past two years. The next GPS payload, previously assigned to Vulcan, will instead launch next week on a Falcon 9 rocket. This satellite was already at the launch site in Florida to prepare for a Vulcan launch this spring when ULA encountered the booster malfunction in February. Military officials made a quick swap to the Falcon 9, which flies from the launch pad next to ULA’s Vulcan launch complex at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
Zarybnisky said the military is “working through a significant number” of potential additional rocket swaps from Vulcan to another launch vehicle. “I really take in two factors as we’re working through how we do swaps,” he said. “One is the availability of the spacecraft. If the spacecraft is ready to go, that’s going to give it a priority.”
“It’s also talking to the warfighter, talking to Combat Forces Command, talking to the Headquarters, and understanding their priorities, that’s how we decide which missions we’re going to swap,” Zarybnisky said. “As far as the maximum number, I will say there are definitely missions that need Vulcan. We need Vulcan flying for this nation, but I continue to push my team… How do we get capability on orbit as fast as possible?”
Officials are also looking at modifying payload packages to make them light enough to launch on a Vulcan rocket without any solid rocket boosters. Garrant said this is an option for rideshare missions for the Space Development Agency, a Space Force unit deploying a fleet of missile-tracking and data-relay satellites. Each launch for the Space Development Agency carries multiple satellites—21 spacecraft in the case of a SpaceX launch last year. Removing a few satellites from a launch could make the payload stack light enough to reach orbit without needing the extra boost from strap-on motors.
Technicians prepare to mate a Northrop Grumman-built solid rocket motor to the core stage of ULA’s Vulcan rocket.
Credit:
United Launch Alliance
Other national security missions awaiting launch on Vulcan rockets this year include the first in a new generation of Space Force missile-warning satellites in geosynchronous orbit. The Pentagon considers these satellites, each costing several billion dollars, as critical strategic assets. Another Vulcan launch this year was supposed to deliver the next set of Silent Barker space surveillance satellites to geosynchronous orbit for the Space Force and the National Reconnaissance Office. The launch of a new wide-band geosynchronous communications satellite is also affected by the Vulcan grounding.