ULA's Vulcan rocket is set to return to flight on Friday the 13th

Key Points:

• United Launch Alliance (ULA) plans to return its Vulcan rocket to service on November 13, nearly nine months after solid rocket booster nozzle failures disrupted its 2026 launch schedule.
• The return-to-flight mission will launch 40 Amazon Leo broadband satellites from Cape Canaveral, marking the first of 38 Vulcan flights Amazon has booked to deploy its network.
• ULA and Northrop Grumman have made design and process improvements to the booster nozzle, though the root cause of the February anomaly remains undisclosed; the improved design will be tested during the upcoming flight.
• The U.S. Space Force, a key customer for Vulcan rockets, has shifted several missions to SpaceX rockets amid concerns, but continues to rely on ULA for about half of its major launches through the early 2030s.
• The November launch will feature six solid rocket boosters, an extended payload fairing for Amazon's satellites, and a shortened Centaur upper stage optimized for low-Earth orbit, with the Space Force closely monitoring flight data before resuming national security missions on Vulcan.