Vulcan Archives - Eastern Range

January 27, 2026

SpaceX Plans To Launch GPS III SV09 Tonight From The Cape

It’s been a hot minute since the last Falcon 9 launch here on the Eastern Range, or at least it feels that way. Last year saw a Falcon 9 launch from Florida roughly every 3.4 days, and tonight marks the 9th day since the last SpaceX rocket roared off of SLC-40.

That dry spell should end tonight with the launch of the GPS III SV09 mission from Cape Canaveral. The launch window opens at 11:38PM ET and lasts for fifteen minutes.

Falcon 9 booster B1096 will power the mission off of the launch pad, and it is planned to complete its fifth mission when it touches down off the coast of the Carolinas aboard ‘A Shortfall Of Gravitas.’ B1096 previously launched KF-01, IMAP, NROL-77, and one Starlink mission.

At A Glance

Launch Preview — At a Glance

As of: January 27, 2026 (America/New_York)

Mission	Falcon 9 \| GPS III-9 “Ellison Onizuka”
Status	Go for Launch Current T-0 confirmed by official or reliable sources.
Rocket	Falcon 9 Block 5 (B1096 — 5th flight)
Organization	SpaceX (for U.S. Space Force)
Location	Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Pad	Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40)
Window	Opens: Tuesday, January 27, 2026 — 11:38 PM ET Closes: Tuesday, January 27, 2026 — 11:53 PM ET (15-minute window)
Countdown	Loading countdown… Target: 11:38 PM ET (Window Open)
Destination	Medium Earth Orbit (~20,200 km altitude)
Recovery	First stage landing on drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas (Atlantic Ocean) Touchdown approximately 8.5 minutes after liftoff
Official Stream	SpaceX Mission Webcast
Spaceflight Now	Spaceflight Now Live Coverage Coverage begins approximately 60 minutes before liftoff
Mission Notes	GPS III Space Vehicle 09 is the ninth of ten GPS III satellites, delivering modernized positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) capabilities for the U.S. Space Force. GPS III provides up to 3× better accuracy and 8× improved anti-jamming performance, featuring encrypted M-code for military users and the interoperable L1C civil signal. The satellite is named for Col. Ellison Onizuka, a NASA astronaut lost in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986. Satellite deployment occurs approximately 90 minutes after liftoff.

Tip: Times are shown in Eastern Time (America/New_York). Launch schedules can change quickly due to weather and range operations. If your platform strips scripts, the countdown may not display.

Trajectory

Northeast.

Weather

The 45th Weather Squadron of the US Space Force’s Launch Delta 45 issued their L-1 Launch Mission Execution Forecast yesterday, and it could not be much better, cool temperatures notwithstanding: 95+% Go throughout the launch window:

Payload

Artist’s rendering of a GPS Block III satellite. Credit: US Air Force

GPS III Space Vehicle 09 is the ninth of ten upgraded navigation satellites built by Lockheed Martin for the U.S. Space Force. It offers three times better accuracy and eight times stronger anti-jamming capability compared to older GPS satellites. Military users get the encrypted M-code signal for secure operations, while civilians benefit from the L1C signal that works alongside Europe’s Galileo system.

The satellite is named “Ellison Onizuka” after the Air Force colonel and NASA astronaut lost in the Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986—almost exactly 40 years ago. After reaching medium Earth orbit about 90 minutes after liftoff, SV09 will undergo testing before joining the operational GPS constellation.

March 26, 2025

United Launch Alliance Vulcan Rocket Receives NSSL Certification

The United States Space Force has officially certified United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket for National Security Space Launch (NSSL) missions. This certification follows an extensive evaluation process, including two successful certification flights.

With this approval, ULA is now authorized to conduct NSSL missions, enhancing the nation’s assured access to space by having multiple unique launch service vehicles across multiple vendors. The government seeks this not for operational convenience but instead for tactical agility.

NSSL certification encompasses 52 criteria, involving over 180 specific tasks. These tasks included two certification flight demonstrations, 60 verifications of payload interface requirements, 18 subsystem design and test reviews, and 114 hardware and software audits. This rigorous assessment established the technical foundation for future flightworthiness evaluations.

“The SSC and ULA teams have worked together extremely closely, and certification of this launch system is a direct result of their focus, dedication, and teamwork,” said Gen Panzenhagen, Program Executive Officer for Assured Access to Space.

The Vulcan Centaur rocket features the Centaur V upper stage, measuring 5.4 meters in diameter and 11.7 meters in length, with a propellant capacity of 120,000 pounds. Constructed from pressure-stabilized, corrosion-resistant stainless steel, the Centaur V utilizes two RL10C engines fueled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. This design aims to provide enhanced performance and flexibility for complex orbital insertions.

“Thank you to all our customer partners who have worked hand-in-hand with us throughout this comprehensive certification process. We are grateful for the collaboration and excited to reach this critical milestone in Vulcan development,” said Tory Bruno, ULA’s president and CEO.“Vulcan is uniquely designed to meet the challenging requirements demanded by an expanding spectrum of missions for U.S. national security space launches. Moreover, this next-generation rocket provides high performance and extreme accuracy while continuing to deliver to our customer’s most challenging and exotic orbits.”

Flown Twice Successfully, With One Issue

In its inaugural launch on January 8, 2024, the Vulcan Centaur successfully deployed the Peregrine lunar lander. Despite a propulsion issue with the lander that prevented a lunar landing, the Vulcan Centaur performed as intended. A subsequent certification flight on October 4, 2024, experienced a nozzle anomaly on one of the solid rocket boosters but still achieved the mission’s objectives.

With the Vulcan Centaur’s certification, ULA plans to support multiple NSSL missions in the coming years.

October 4, 2024

ULA, Vulcan, Cert-2, October 4, 2024

United Launch Alliance successfully launched its second Vulcan rocket this morning from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral. The launch was not a perfect one, however, as Vulcan survived a very close call when one of the two solid-rocket boosters on the first stage partially failed and lost its nozzle in flight.

Despite a partial loss of thrust from the errant SRB, ULA’s flight software and engineering teams were able to make corrections to trajectory of the rocket as it continued to ascent.

September 30, 2024

ULA Rolls Second Vulcan Rocket To Its Launch Mount

United Launch Alliance's CERT-2 rocket on its way to the launch mount at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral on September 30, 2024.
Photo: United Launch Alliance — United Launch Alliance’s CERT-2 rocket on its way to the launch mount at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral on September 30, 2024.
Photo: United Launch Alliance

United Launch Alliance has moved its second Vulcan Rocket from their Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 to the launch mount. Final preparations can now begin for a launch scheduled for NET (not earlier than) Friday morning. Launch time is unofficially expected to be between 06:00 AM – 009:00 AM EDT, but ULA has not yet announced an official time for T-0.

Test Mission

This mission, dubbed “CERT-2” will not carry a customer payload. Originally slated to launch Sierra’s Dream Chaser on its maiden voyage to the International Space Station, ULA and Sierra agreed to remove the payload because Sierra would not have Dream Chaser flight-ready this fall. Instead, ULA will fly an inert “dummy” to simulate a payload with the goal being to further prove out the Vulcan system and also to achieve certification from the Department of Defense for Vulcan to launch national defense payloads.

United Launch Alliance's Vulcan CERT-1 lifting off on January 8, 2024. — United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan CERT-1 lifting off on January 8, 2024. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

In its first launch, Vulcan performed admirably, launching Astrobiotics Peregrine lunar lander to its target orbit, with the lander then traveling to cislunar space.

Vulcan is the first rocket designed wholly by United Launch Alliance. The Delta and Atlas family of rockets were legacy designs created by Boeing and Lockheed Martin respectively prior to the founding of the company in 2006. ULA is a joint venture between the two aerospace giants, and has successfully launched more than 157 missions since its inception.

According to the company, “This second Certification (Cert-2) launch will demonstrate Vulcan’s high-energy rocket architecture by achieving an Earth-escape trajectory and placing the Centaur V with an inert, non-deployable payload into deep space where it will orbit the sun for the rest of time. Cert-2 follows Vulcan’s successful inaugural launch on Jan. 8, 2024.”

Vulcan CERT-2 will be externally identical to the CERT-1 vehicle: along with the methane-oxygen fueled first stage powered by two Blue Origin BE-4 engines (the same engine Blue Origin will use with New Glenn) the first stage will also have two GEM solid-rocket boosters attached to give it additional lifting power. Together, the methane-fueled main engines and SRBs will provide the 2 million pounds (8.9 kilo-Newtons) of thrust generated at liftoff to power Vulcan off the launch pad.

Mark Peller, ULA’s senior vice president, Vulcan Development and Advanced Programs said in a press release that, “After the key objectives necessary for certification are completed, the mission will evaluate additional changes to the design of the upper stage and how it is operated over long coast periods to further increase its endurance.”

In other words, ULA plans to first meet the requirements of DoD certification, and afterwards, work on iterative improvements on the new vehicle.

The United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket is transported from the Vertical Integration Facility-G (VIF-G) to Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, in preparation for the second certification mission (Cert-2). Photo credit: United Launch Alliance

June 26, 2024

Dream Chaser Won’t Be Ready for ULA’s Vulcan CERT-2 Flight

In an announcement today, United Launch Alliance stated that Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser is off of the second flight of ULA’s Vulcan rocket.

Statement from United Launch Alliance, June 26, 2024

On the X platform today, ULA said “We have been working closely with our current VulcanRocket Cert2 customer, Sierra Space, and while ULA will be ready to fly, Sierra Space has shared that they are making excellent progress with Dream Chaser but have schedule risk to fly by that time.”

They added, “Based on this delay and urgent national security needs, we are prioritizing the Cert2 mission to enable certification to launch our first National Security Space mission.

“We plan to fly an inert payload, experiments, and demonstrations the #Cert2 mission.

“We are working with Sierra Space to identify the next available launch date.”

ULA concluded that they are “[A]ware of the heightened threat environment the nation is facing in space and takes seriously the critical responsibility of launching essential National Security Space satellite assets to orbit promptly.”

For their part, at the time of this writing, Sierra Space has made no statement regarding the matter.

The move, however, makes a lot of sense for all parties: ULA needs to fly Vulcan a second time successfully to achieve certification from the Department of Defense to fly national security payloads aboard Vulcan. That in turn would allow ULA to fulfill its contracted obligations and to get its backlogged manifest of DoD launches in process.

ULA has received the booster for Vulcan CERT-2, and it is being processed at the company’s facilities in Florida, but it has yet to announce a target launch date for the vehicle.

For Sierra Space, the move relieves schedule pressure to some degree and allows them time to focus on ensuring that no stones are left unturned in the lead-up to Dream Chaser’s maiden spaceflight. Given that the Tenacity spacecraft that will fly the mission is also planned to be re-used, its critical for Sierra to have a successful launch and landing of the spacecraft.

May 9, 2024

Sierra Space Dream Chaser Finishes Testing, Coming Soon To The Cape

Artist’s rendition of Dream Chaser Tenacity on orbit.
Graphic: Sierra Space

The maiden flight of Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser is a step closer to happening, according to a statement released by the company today. In a press release, Sierra said that that Tenacity — the first flight model of Dream Chaser– ashieved “the successful completion of a rigorous environmental test suite on the Dream Chaser spaceplane, at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio.”

“Successful completion of an incredibly rigorous environmental testing campaign in close partnership with NASA is a significant milestone and puts Dream Chaser on track for operations later this year,” said Sierra Space CEO, Tom Vice. “This is the year that we transition from rigorous research and development to regular orbital operations and – in doing so – transform the way we connect space and Earth.”

Dream Chaser Tenacity
Photo: Sierra Space

Tenacity underwent shock, vibration, and thermal vacuum testing at Armstrong to verify its abilities to withstand the rigors of ascent aboard a United Launch Alliance Vulcan-Centaur rocket, as well as on-orbit operations after separation from the rocket that boosted it to orbit. The testing took several months and was recently completed, leading to the company’s announcement today.

Sierra Space said that, “The two vehicles were then stacked in launch configuration on the world’s most powerful spacecraft shaker table inside the test center’s Mechanical Vibration Facility. Sine vibration testing – conducted over a five-week period – simulated the intense conditions and environment of a launch on a Vulcan Centaur rocket.”

“After vibe testing concluded, the teams conducted another shock test – this time with the flight separation system between Dream Chaser and Shooting Star – to simulate the dynamic environment during separation of the two vehicles prior to de-orbit and re-entry.”

They added, “Next, the Sierra Space and NASA test teams transported the vehicles to the In-Space Propulsion Facility at Armstrong for thermal vacuum or “T-VAC” testing.

“Temperatures in space can range from the extremely cold – hundreds of degrees below freezing – to several hundred degrees Fahrenheit due to radiation from the sun. TVAC testing is a realistic thermal simulation of the flight environment and critical to ensuring mission success,” Sierra said.

“For more than five weeks, Dream Chaser and Shooting Star were subjected to multiple cold-hot cycles in a vacuum environment, between -150F to +250F, with teams conducting functional tests at temperature plateaus to verify system performance. “

Next, Tenacity will be transported to the Space Systems Processing Facility (SSPF) at Kennedy Space Center for integration and further preparations for launch. According to Sierra, “Remaining work on the thermal protection system will also be completed there.”

A Blue Origin BE-4 being mated to ULA’s second Vulcan Rocket, dubbed CERT-2 in April, 2024
Photo: Tory Bruno on X.

After those steps are completed, the launch campaign can begin in earnest. Sierra Space says that they remain on track for a 2024 launch of Tenacity, and for their part of the mission, United Launch Alliance is finishing assembly of the Vulcan-Centaur rocket that will deliver Tenacity to orbit.

If successful, this second flight will complete Vulcan’s certification for Department of Defense payloads, giving the mission additional importance above and beyond Dream Chaser’s debut. Currently, the launch is slated for late Q3 or early Q4 of this year.

March 15, 2024

Dream Chaser Arrives In Ohio For Thermal Testing; Last Stop Before It Comes To The Cape

Dream Chaser”Tenacity”
Photo: Sierra Nevada

Sierra Space announced today on the X platform that its Dream Chaser “Tenacity” orbiter has arrived at “NASA’s Armstrong In-Space Propulsion facility in Ohio for thermal vacuum testing. This will be its last testing phase in Ohio before it makes its way to Kennedy Space Center in Florida.” The Armstrong test facility is part of NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.

Robert Vess, a lecturer in mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C., installing twindow flange trim on a full-size engineering model of the HL-20 lifting body in 1990. The model was built by NCSU and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University, Greensboro, N.C. Photo: NASA

A Long Path To The Launch Pad

Dream Chaser is the company’s reusable lifting-body spaceplane based on NASA’s HL-20 Personnel Launch System, first studied by NASA Langley in 1990. That spacecraft was intended to ferry astronauts to the proposed Space Station Freedom, which eventually evolved into the International Space Station.

While no flight hardware for the HL-20 was ever built by NASA, the idea of a relatively low-cost, lifting-body design that could land on conventional runways persisted. Both Orbital Sciences (now Northrup-Grumman) and SpaceDev (now Sierra Space) proposed HL-20 derivatives for ferrying crews and supplies to the ISS.

Orbital never built its version, called “Prometheus,” a Blended Lifting Body (BLB) spacecraft, after failing to be selected for a CCDev phase 2 award by NASA. Afterward, Orbital announced that it was winding down its effort to build a commercial spacecraft and discontinued the program.

Sierra, for its part, also faced selection hurdles: its design for a crewed Dream Chaser was not selected by NASA for the final phase of development of commercial crew (CCtCap). The company persisted, however, and NASA selected a cargo-only version of Dream Chaser for its Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS2) program.

Crewed variant of Dream Chaser landing in 2017 after a drop test.
Photo: Sierra Nevada

Space Flight Nearly In Sight

“We are coming out of years of development, years of hard work and years of resolving tough engineering challenges that come from revolutionary new ways of doing things,” said Sierra Space CEO Tom Vice last month.

If it tests successfully at the Armstrong Test Facility, Dream Chaser will make its maiden flight sometime in 2024 on top of a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket.

January 8, 2024

Peregrine Lunar Lander Experiencing Severe Issues, May Not Be Able To Complete Moon Landing

Artist’s rendering of the Astrobiotics Peregrine Lander
graphic: Astrobiotics

At dawn this morning, everything looked to be coming up aces for Astrobotic, the company that built the Peregrine lunar lander, the prime payload for the ULA Vulcan launch that happened shortly after 2:18 am EST this morning. After a picture-perfect launch on a brand-new that ULA CEO called a “bullseye,” the lander was in space and headed towards Earth’s closest neighbor in the heavens.

Vulcan lifting off from Pad SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on January 8, 2024
photo: Charles Boyer, Talk of Titusville

Safely in orbit, Peregrine was successfully placed on a lunar trajectory by Vulcan, communications from spacecraft to ground was quickly established and everyone involved was looking forward to a bright future for the first American lunar lander since Apollo 17 in 1972. Shortly afterwards, problems began for Peregrine, and at the time of this writing, it appears the primary mission may no longer be possible.

In an update on the X platform at 9:17 am, Astrobotic first let everyone know that something was amiss:

At 11:04am, the company issued a second update:

Roughly ninety minutes later, at 12:03 pm EST, a third Astrobotic post by gave a promising update:

Finally, at 1:03pm, a fourth Astrobiotic update brought disappointing news:

Disappointment At NASA And At Astrobotic

At the time of this writing, it appears that a lunar lander may well be off the table. That surely comes as a major disappointment to Astrobotic and to NASA, given that the space agency was looking forward to utilizing data from Peregrine for the Artemis program.

NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration (part of the Science Directorate of the agency) made this statement earlier, before Astrobotic fourth update: “Each success and setback are opportunities to grow. We will use this lesson to propel our efforts to advance science and commercial development. The agency also said that Administrator Bill Nelson will have a further statement later today. Talk of Titusville will update this story to include Administrator Nelson’s comments after they are made.

January 8, 2024

ULA Vulcan CERT-1, 01-08-2024

United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan rocket lifted off of Pad SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force station at 2:18:38 EST this morning, with the rocket working in near-perfect fashion as it sent the Astrobiotics Peregrine lunar lander towards the moon and a Celestis memorial payload on its way to permanent solar orbit.

January 5, 2024

Vulcan Rolled Out To Launchpad, Is Set For Early Monday Launch.

Vulcan sitting on the launchpad at SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Friday, January 5, 2024
Photo: T.J. Waller, Florida Media Now

United Launch Alliance moved its new Vulcan rocket to the launch pad at SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force station this afternoon. Vulcan will make its maiden launch at 2:18 am EST Monday January 8. The latest forecasts call for an 85% chance of acceptable launch conditions weather-wise, leaving only a 15% Probability of Violation of weather criteria. That forecast will likely be updated by the 45th Weather Wing of the US Space Force as soon as tomorrow and is subject to change.

Vulcan will carry the Astrobiotics Peregrine lunar lander, the Celestis Enterprise memorial flight, and other payloads to space. Peregrine will aim for the Sinus Viscositatis, or Bay of Stickiness, named after the long-ago silica magma that formed the nearby Gruithuisen Domes. The Celestis payload will end up in solar orbit after it is deployed.