ULA Targets Nov. 13 Vulcan Return to Flight With 40 Amazon Leo Satellites
By Courtney Albon · · TexaHub · Space & Aerospace
United Launch Alliance plans to fly Vulcan again on Nov. 13 carrying 40 Amazon Leo satellites, ending a pause of nearly nine months that followed a solid rocket booster anomaly in February.
Launch Plan
Amazon said on Oct. 28 that a ULA Vulcan VC6L rocket would launch 40 Amazon Leo satellites from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Friday, Nov. 13, pending range approval. The mission, LV-01, carries Amazon's largest Leo payload to date and is the first of 38 contracted Leo missions on Vulcan. [1]
Amazon also set an Ariane 6 launch of 36 Leo satellites from French Guiana for no earlier than Nov. 23. The company said it has launched nearly 400 Leo satellites across 14 missions since April 2025. [1]
Booster Nozzle Redesign
Vulcan has been grounded since the Space Force's USSF-87 mission on Feb. 12, when a solid rocket booster problem occurred during a launch that otherwise succeeded. ULA called the issue a "significant performance anomaly." [2]
Less than 30 seconds after liftoff from pad 41 at Cape Canaveral, one of the rocket's four Northrop Grumman-built GEM 63XL boosters appeared to suffer a nozzle burn-through, and the vehicle rolled more than usual during its pitch-over. ULA said the rocket counteracted the anomaly and the boosters separated on schedule. A similar burn-through had occurred on Vulcan's second certification flight on Oct. 4, 2024. [3]
The Amazon flight will use a redesigned solid rocket booster nozzle, and ULA said additional testing and analysis would continue alongside the mission. [2]
Military Missions Moved
It remains unclear when Vulcan will carry U.S. military payloads again. Brig. Gen. Eric Zarybnisky, the Space Force's portfolio acquisition executive for space access, said the service would rely on flight data from Vulcan's first commercial launches to plan future military missions. [2]
The Space Force has moved four missions from Vulcan to SpaceX: the final GPS III satellite, which launched on a Falcon 9 in April, a Space Development Agency Tranche 1 tracking mission, the Oracle-M cislunar pathfinder, now assigned to USSF-63, and a Next-Gen OPIR satellite, now assigned to USSF-174. Zarybnisky said some missions cannot easily switch rockets because of integration timelines and technical challenges. The service plans to move a future SpaceX mission back to ULA rather than cancel ULA contracts. [2]
Sources
[1] Amazon Leo mission updates: Launch dates set for next missions on Vulcan and Ariane 6 — Amazon
[2] ULA says Vulcan Rocket Will Launch Again in November After Monthslong Pause — Air & Space Forces Magazine
[3] Vulcan suffers solid rocket booster problem during USSF-87 launch — Spaceflight Now