US space forces (USSF) are currently actively reviewing the launch schedule and looking for alternatives due to technical problems with United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur rocket (ULA).
Here are the main details of the situation:
The reason for the stop: During the last missions (specifically USSF-87 in February 2026 year) a repeated anomaly was detected with the nozzles of solid fuel accelerators. The cosmic forces announced, that will not resume flights on Vulcan, until the investigation is complete, which may take several months.
The main alternative: Currently the only certified competitor, able to quickly take on these missions, is SpaceX.
Decisions have already been made: The space force has already officially postponed the launch of the last satellite of the GPS III series (SV-10) from a Vulcan rocket on a SpaceX Falcon 9. The launch is planned for the end of April 2026 developed by the American space company SpaceX.
Other options:
Blue Origin: Their New Glenn rocket is currently undergoing certification for national security missions.
Additional suppliers: Under the NSSL Phase programme 3 Lane 1 The space force is also looking at new companies, such as Rocket Lab (Neutron rocket) та Stoke Space (Nova rocket), however, they will only be available for flights in 2027 year.
This situation demonstrates the strategy of "flexibility", which is currently being implemented by the Space Systems Command (SSC) to ensure uninterrupted access to space even in the event of problems with one of the providers.
Source: https://spacenews.com