Vulcan woes will "absolutely" be a factor in Pentagon's next rocket competition
"If the spacecraft is ready to go, that's going to give it a priority."
Signal weather
Stable
The story has moved beyond the first headline and now acts as a reliable context anchor.
The US Space Force is still dealing with the near-term implications of the second grounding of United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket in less than two years. The experience is likely to influence how the Pentagon buys launch services in the future, a three-star general said Tuesday. The Vulcan rocket is one of the two primary launch vehicles the Space Force uses to put satellites into orbit, alongside SpaceX's Falcon 9. Despite a backlog of nearly 70 launches, ULA's Vulcan has flown just four times since debuting in January 2024. On two of those flights, the Vulcan launcher suffered anomalies with one of its solid rocket boosters. One of the booster's exhaust nozzles blew off in the first incident in October 2024. The same problem appeared to occur again during a Vulcan launch in February of this year. The rocket continued flying after both incidents, ultimately reaching each mission's targeted orbit. Read full article Comments
Stay on the signal
Follow Vulcan woes will "absolutely" be a factor in Pentagon's next rocket competition
Follow this story beyond a single article: new follow-ups, adjacent sources, and the evolving storyline.
Story map
Understand this topic fast
A quick entry into the story: why it matters now, who is involved, and where to go next for context.
Why it matters now
Topic constellation
Open the live map for this story
See which entities, story threads, sources, and follow-up articles shape this story right now.
Click nodes to continue
Entity pages
Story timeline
Continue with this story
A short sequence of events and follow-up stories to understand the arc quickly.
How reliable this looks
Signal and trust for Ars Technica
This source works at a rapid pace: 100% of recent stories land in the hot window, and 0% carry visible search signal.
Reliability
92
Freshness
100
Sources in storyline
2
Related articles
More stories that share tags, source, or category context.
What happens in Vega$: steroids, swimmers, and a billion-dollar hustle
The Enhanced Games — a singular sporting competition where a majority of the athletes were on performance enhancing drugs — may herald a new business model that the tech industr...
Signal weather
Momentum is building quickly, so this card is a good early entry point into the topic.
Why now
Fresh coverage with immediate momentum.
On its 40th anniversary, we reassess 1986's SpaceCamp
Is it a hidden gem, a cult classic, or hopelessly dumb? We vote "all of the above."
Signal weather
Momentum is building quickly, so this card is a good early entry point into the topic.
Why now
Fresh coverage with immediate momentum.
They call it stupid hot for a reason: Heat muddles animal brains
As temperatures rise, some creatures pick fights while others struggle to learn.
Signal weather
Momentum is building quickly, so this card is a good early entry point into the topic.
Why now
Fresh coverage with immediate momentum.
Grifters, cynics, and true believers: The family tree of vaccine opponents
A new book looks into the long history of people who have opposed vaccines.
Signal weather
Momentum is building quickly, so this card is a good early entry point into the topic.
Why now
Fresh coverage with immediate momentum.
More from Ars Technica
Fresh reporting and follow-up coverage from the same newsroom.
On its 40th anniversary, we reassess 1986's SpaceCamp
Is it a hidden gem, a cult classic, or hopelessly dumb? We vote "all of the above."
Signal weather
Momentum is building quickly, so this card is a good early entry point into the topic.
Why now
Fresh coverage with immediate momentum.
They call it stupid hot for a reason: Heat muddles animal brains
As temperatures rise, some creatures pick fights while others struggle to learn.
Signal weather
Momentum is building quickly, so this card is a good early entry point into the topic.
Why now
Fresh coverage with immediate momentum.
Grifters, cynics, and true believers: The family tree of vaccine opponents
A new book looks into the long history of people who have opposed vaccines.
Signal weather
Momentum is building quickly, so this card is a good early entry point into the topic.
Why now
Fresh coverage with immediate momentum.
Environmentalists turn out in force to oppose Trump coal ash rollbacks
Trump admin wants to rely on states for coal ash monitoring, enforcement, allow them to bypass national standards.
Signal weather
Momentum is building quickly, so this card is a good early entry point into the topic.
Why now
Fresh coverage with immediate momentum.