United Launch Alliance · Operational · us · Launch Vehicle
Vulcan Centaur
ULA's next-generation heavy-lift rocket; NSSL-certified March 2025, grounded since a solid-booster anomaly on USSF-87 in February 2026.
Verified 2026-09-24 · First flight 2024-01-08
Systems cutaway
2× BE-4 LOX/liquefied natural gas main engines (Blue Origin); up to 6× GEM-63XL solid strap-on boosters (Northrop Grumman); Centaur V upper stage with 2× RL-10C LOX/LH2.
5.4 m diameter core; 4 m and 5.4 m fairing options; 61.6–67.4 m height depending on fairing.
Autonomous Flight Safety System (AFSS); updated flight computer derived from Atlas V heritage.
Specs & Metrics
- Payload to LEO ↑ better
- 27,200 kg
- VC6S configuration maximum
- Maximum payload mass deliverable to low Earth orbit (~200–400 km circular), in the vehicle's stated reference configuration.
- Payload to GTO ↑ better
- 14,500 kg
- VC6S configuration maximum
- Maximum payload mass deliverable to geostationary transfer orbit (~185 × 35,786 km), in the stated reference config.
- Liftoff Thrust ↑ better
- 17056 kN
- VC6S configuration
- Total first-stage thrust at liftoff (sea-level), in kilonewtons, summing all active engines and solid strap-ons.
- Liftoff Mass ↓ better
- 547 t
- Total vehicle mass at liftoff including propellant, payload, and all stages, in metric tonnes.
- Vehicle Height ↓ better
- 61.6 m
- Full stack height at liftoff, in metres, including fairing or spacecraft.
- Launches in 2025 ↑ better
- 1
- USSF-106 on August 13, 2025
- Total number of launch attempts conducted in calendar year 2025 (Jan 1 – Dec 31 UTC).
Subsystems
2× BE-4 LOX/liquefied natural gas main engines (Blue Origin); up to 6× GEM-63XL solid strap-on boosters (Northrop Grumman); Centaur V upper stage with 2× RL-10C LOX/LH2.
5.4 m diameter core; 4 m and 5.4 m fairing options; 61.6–67.4 m height depending on fairing.
Autonomous Flight Safety System (AFSS); updated flight computer derived from Atlas V heritage.
Program roadmap
- achieved
NSSL Phase 2 certification by US Space Force
2025-03↗ - achieved
USSF-106 national security payload launch (first operational NSSL mission)
2025-08↗ - achieved
USSF-87 launch — a GEM 63XL solid booster nozzle burned through, the second such issue in four Vulcan flights
2026-02-12↗ - planned
Return to flight after the USSF-87 booster anomaly grounded Vulcan (ULA is working to fly again this year)
2026↗