United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur is a new two-stage heavy-lift rocket meant to handle a wide range of missions. It replaces ULA’s older Atlas V and Delta IV launchers. The first stage is powered by two BE-4 methane engines (made by Blue Origin) and the second stage is the cryogenic Centaur V with dual RL10 engines. Vulcan can be fitted with up to six strap-on solid rocket boosters for heavier payloads. Its debut flight took place on Jan. 8, 2024, carrying Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander toward the Moon. (That mission succeeded in sending Peregrine into a trans-lunar trajectory; the later lander failure was due to a leak in the spacecraft, not the rocket.)
The USSF-106 (NTS‑3) Mission Details
The upcoming Space Force mission is designated USSF-106 (sometimes called NTS-3), Vulcan’s first National Security Space Launch (NSSL) flight. Liftoff is expected in July 2025 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. ULA will use the VC4S configuration – Vulcan Centaur with four solid boosters – to inject the payloads directly into geosynchronous orbit. The only publicly named passenger is the Air Force’s Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3), built by L3Harris on Northrop Grumman’s ESPAStar bus. NTS-3 is an experimental navigation satellite carrying new signal-generation hardware. Its digital transmitter can be reprogrammed on orbit to broadcast novel GPS-like signals, improve performance, and add anti-spoofing features. The Air Force Research Laboratory says NTS-3 will conduct “over 100 experiments…designed to help solve warfighters’ problems in the contested environment,” and will demonstrate an “agile and responsive” GPS architecture to defeat jamming and other threats. (Any additional co-passengers on USSF-106 are not publicly disclosed.)
Significance for Space Force and National Security
USSF-106 is more than a routine launch – it marks Vulcan’s entry into military space operations. The Space Force emphasizes that “assured access to space is a core function” for national security, and Vulcan’s certification “adds launch capacity, resiliency, and flexibility” for those critical satellite systems. In other words, the U.S. will now have a second heavy-lift launcher (after SpaceX’s Falcon rockets) available for its top-secret payloads. This redundancy is deliberately built in: under the Pentagon’s NSSL Phase 2 contracts, ULA won about 26 missions (versus 23 for SpaceX), so having Vulcan ready lets the U.S. fly that backlog of Pentagon satellites. Industry analysts note that by fielding two domestic launch vehicles, the Space Force avoids being “solely reliant on a single company” and fosters healthy competition. In practical terms, it means communications, navigation and surveillance satellites for national defense can access multiple flight opportunities on an accelerated schedule.
Vulcan’s Development and Past Flights
Vulcan Centaur’s development was lengthy and encountered delays. It was originally expected to fly in 2023, but technical issues with ground systems pushed the maiden launch into January 2024. That first launch (the “Cert-1” mission) successfully placed Peregrine onto a lunar trajectory. The second flight (Cert-2, on Oct. 4, 2024) carried no revenue payloads – just a mass simulator and test hardware – and likewise achieved orbit. However, during ascent one of the solid boosters suffered a burn-through and its nozzle flew off. Remarkably, Vulcan’s two BE-4 engines and Centaur upper stage still placed the dummy payload on target. ULA traced the mishap to a manufacturing defect in the nozzle and fixed it with new testing.
By late March 2025 the Space Force formally certified Vulcan for national-security payloads. (That certification followed more than 50 formal criteria and two test flights.) ULA’s CEO Tory Bruno said the company and Space Force then turned to preparing the USSF-106 booster. In the meantime, ULA even launched a couple of Atlas V rockets to keep other customers moving: in April and June 2025 two Atlas 5s lifted off carrying Amazon’s first Kuiper internet satellites, buying time while Vulcan was readied. Under plans released in mid-2025, ULA will alternate Atlas and Vulcan missions roughly 50/50 through the year. The next two Vulcan flights are USSF-106 and USSF-87 (the latter will place two GSSAP space-surveillance satellites in GEO).
Why This Matters Today
The USSF-106 launch comes at an interesting juncture in the global launch market. In recent years SpaceX’s reusable Falcon fleet has dominated U.S. military and NASA launches, often delivering satellites with quick turnaround. Vulcan’s arrival gives government customers an additional American option for heavy payloads. This diversification is strategically important: it keeps the U.S. from being “gripped by any one supplier,” encouraging innovation and resilience. It also replaces foreign reliance: Vulcan uses only American-made hardware, whereas Atlas V’s first stage had depended on Russian RD-180 engines. In the bigger picture, having two capable rockets (Falcon and Vulcan) serves national priorities – whether that’s deploying advanced GPS replacements, missile warning satellites or other critical spacecraft – by preventing single-point failures in the launch supply chain. USSF-106 thus symbolizes the moment when a new U.S. rocket joins the active fleet of launchers, bolstering America’s assured access to space at a time of increasing demand.
Sources: ULA and Spaceflight Now mission briefings, SpaceForce announcements, and industry press.