GoKawiilFor the fourth time in a little more than a year, the US Space Force needs to send up a new satellite to replenish the military’s GPS navigation network. And once again, the company the Pentagon is paying to launch it can’t answer the call.
United Launch Alliance, a 50-50 joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, was supposed to launch the final satellite for the Space Force’s GPS Block III program this month. Space Systems Command, responsible for buying spacecraft and rockets for the military, announced Friday it has transferred the launch to a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX, ULA’s chief rival in the market for launching US government satellites.
This is only the latest example of the Space Force moving a GPS launch from ULA to SpaceX. The three most recent GPS satellites were also supposed to launch on ULA’s Vulcan rocket. Beginning in 2024, the Space Force shifted them over to SpaceX. In exchange, military officials moved three future launches from SpaceX to ULA, including the launch of the GPS III SV10 satellite.
ULA’s Vulcan rocket is now grounded for the second time in less than two years, prompting the Space Force to move GPS III SV10 back to SpaceX. ULA will receive rights to launch a classified US military mission in 2028.
Space Systems Command assigned launch missions for the final four GPS satellites several years ago. At the time, the Vulcan rocket was nearing its first test flight. The debut was delayed from 2020 until early 2024, and since then, the new rocket’s path to operational service has not been smooth. On its second and fourth flights—in October 2024 and last month—the new rocket suffered problems with its solid rocket boosters.
An investigation into the first incident found a manufacturing defect was responsible for the loss of the booster’s exhaust nozzle shortly after liftoff. Officials have not announced the results of the probe into the second booster failure, but it appeared to be similar to the first incident. On each flight, the Vulcan rocket recovered from the anomaly and successfully completed its climb into orbit.
Assured access to space
The recurrence of the same type of failure twice in four flights gave US military officials pause. Last month, the military officer in charge of the Space Force’s space launch program said the investigation into the booster problem will take “many months.” The Space Force won’t resume launching payloads on the Vulcan rocket until the investigation is complete.