USSF-87 Anomaly Reveals Continuing Obstacles for ULA’s Vulcan-Centaur

At 4:22 AM, February 12th, United Launch Alliance successfully conducted their first launch of 2026, launching a national security payload towards geosynchronous orbit aboard their Vulcan-Centaur rocket. The mission, designated as USSF-87, marks Vulcan-Centaur’s second national security mission since its tumultuous certification process. However, a familiar anomaly encountered during the rocket’s ascent towards space raises significant concerns for the vehicle’s immediate future.

The Vulcan-Centaur rocket launched in its VC4S configuration for the second time, hosting its shorter fairing volume and sporting four GEM63XL solid rocket boosters. Roughly 30 seconds after Vulcan-Centaur launched, a bright glow and rain of sparks from the aft of one of the GEM boosters indicated a fault. At this time it appears that Vulcan-Centaur has had a repeat of its fault which it encountered back in 2024, where a burn-through in the SRB nozzle resulted in the nozzle being blasted off the bottom of the booster. The rocket visibly rolled following this anomaly, though its guidance systems were seemingly able to somewhat compensate for the partial loss of thrust in the defective SRB.

Due its nature as a national security mission, exact details on USSF-87’s goals are not clear, but it is understood the mission carried a multi-manifest payload, including a system for the Space Force’s Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP). GSSAP’s goal is the identification, tracking, and characterization of satellites and debris in orbit of Earth using satellites in near-geosynchronous orbit. The high vantage point and vicinity to geostationary assets allows for a comprehensive overlook of various objects in space, which is useful for characterizing the assets of other nations, protection of American in-space assets, and regulating space traffic. Despite the anomaly, the Vulcan-Centaur rocket managed to continue its mission on a nominal trajectory, a silver lining which displays the system’s resilience. At time of writing, payload deployment had not yet been confirmed. (Update 12 February 2026 at 10:50 CT: ULA has now confirmed a successful insertion of the payload into geosynchronous orbit.)

Despite Vulcan’s first certification flight occurring over two years ago, the anomaly on USSF-87 contributes to what has already been a rocky start to Vulcan’s operational career. Acting as the successor to both the Delta IV and Atlas V rockets, Vulcan-Centaur was required to complete two successful launches in order to be certified to launch national security payloads. While ULA originally planned to accomplish these launches quickly and rapidly establish a high operational cadence for Vulcan, multiple events contributed to a slow start for the new workhorse lifter. Vulcan Cert-1 launched in January of 2024, carrying Astrobotic’s ill-fated Peregrine 1 mission. Vulcan Cert-2 was originally anticipated for April that same year, but delays to the Sierra Space Dream Chaser spacecraft continually pushed the date further. Eventually, after facing fines from the Department of Defense, ULA launched Vulcan-CentaurCert-2 with a dummy payload in October. 

Cert-2 experienced an anomaly where one of the nozzles of its GEM boosters broke away, complicating the ascent. While the twin BE-4 engines which power Vulcan’s core stage were able to correct for the anomaly, with the Centaur V upper stage reaching the designated orbit as planned, the anomaly still raised concerns over the vehicle’s safety in handling sensitive payloads. ULA launched a months-long investigation into the exact cause of the GEM booster’s anomaly, eventually identifying a manufacturing defect which was supposedly corrected. However, the additional work required to complete certification and verify the fault’s correction was a significant timesink for ULA. Originally, ULA sought to launch somewhere in the range of ten Vulcan-Centaur rockets in 2025, alongside an equal number of the remaining Atlas V rockets. However, delays in the investigation and payload setbacks ultimately led to only a single Vulcan-Centaur launch in 2025, carrying USSF-106, the system’s first national security payload.

Now, in the wake of a repeat failure aboard USSF-87, we find ourselves right back at the beginning of what will surely be a months-long investigation process. The Northrop-Grumman GEM63XL solid rocket boosters are the bulk of the Vulcan-Centaur rocket’s impulse during ascent, and each launch of the system requires between 2 and 6 of these boosters depending on the demands of the payload. A large stockpile of these boosters had already been delivered to the cape for future Vulcan-Centaur launches, and likely need to be examined, potentially back at their manufacturing site, to truly characterize the origin and pervasiveness of the error in ULA’s supply.

Like the years before it, it seems 2026 will not be ULA’s year to fully establish Vulcan-Centaur as a high-rate, reliable flagship launch system. With a large mission backlog still ahead, and ULA’s hard-fought reputation as a reliable launch provider on the line, time will tell what the remaining year has in store for the lifter.

Edited by Beverly Casillas