USSF-87 Flies, Launch Issues Arise

U.L.A. Vulcan Stock Image By:  Michael Howard - We Report Space

Cape Canaveral S.F.S., FL. – Liftoff! At a very early morning 4:22 AM EST, a United Launch Alliance (U.L.A.) “Vulcan” rocket lit up the Space Coast sending the top secret USSF-87 payload into a geosynchronous orbit. While the mission appears to be a complete success, a notation on the ULA website says there was an anomaly early into the flight with one of the four solid rocket motors.

From the ULA website at 5:24 AM: “We had an observation early during flight on one of the four solid rocket motors, the team is currently reviewing the data. The booster, upper stage, and spacecraft continued to perform on a nominal trajectory.” This post was also the last posted on the updates portion of the page.

In a replay of flight video from their website, a shower of sparks is visible at 1:07 minutes into the flight. Is this the mentioned anomaly?

In a statement from ULA: "Early during flight, the team observed a significant performance anomaly on one of the four solid rocket motors. Despite the observation, the Vulcan booster and Centaur performed nominally and delivered the spacecraft directly to geosynchronous orbit,’ said Gary Wentz, ULA vice president of Atlas and Vulcan Programs. “The integrated U.S. government and contractor team is reviewing the technical data, available imagery, and establishing a recovery team to collect any debris. We will conduct a thorough investigation, identify root cause, and implement any corrective action necessary before the next Vulcan mission.”

This is not the first time there was an issue with a Vulcan flight and a solid rocket motor anomaly. Back on October 4, 2024 during the CERT-2 launch, a visible issue occurred with a solid motor however the rocket continued on to achieve a successful mission outcome.

At this time it is uncertain how long the launch delays will take while this issue is looked at.

Story By: Michael Howard – We Report Space

Images By: Michael Howard, Michael Seeley and Graham Smith – We Report Space