ULA’s Vulcan Rocket Receives Key Upgrades to Compete in Satellite Launch Market

Published 1 days agoBA

ULA’s Vulcan Rocket Receives Key Upgrades to Compete in Satellite Launch Market

United Launch Alliance (ULA), the joint venture formed by Boeing and Lockheed Martin, is making substantial enhancements to its Vulcan rocket. These upgrades aim to boost ULA's presence in the low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite launch market, a sector currently dominated by SpaceX's Starship. The upgraded Vulcan variant is being developed specifically to compete with SpaceX, which has been actively deploying satellites as part of its Starlink internet service, Reuters reported.

One of the significant potential changes involves a "Vulcan Heavy" configuration, which would utilize three core boosters to increase the payload capacity for LEO missions. This notable consideration is part of ULA’s strategic effort to enhance the Vulcan rocket’s capabilities. In addition, the U.S. Space Force certified the Vulcan rocket in March 2025 for national security space launch missions, a key milestone that allows ULA to compete for Pentagon satellite launches, marking its growing importance in U.S. defense operations.

These developments are backed by the recent award of 19 missions to ULA, valued at $5.3 billion, under the U.S. Space Force's National Security Space Launch program. The Vulcan rocket’s testing and certification efforts have been advancing, with ULA successfully completing several test flights, including a pivotal mission in October 2024. Boeing's involvement continues to be crucial in ULA's strategy to position the Vulcan rocket as a leading player in the competitive satellite launch market.

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