Space Force mitigating impacts to programs amid grounding of Vulcan rocket

The Space Force has grounded United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur rocket following a "significant performance anomaly" in one of four solid rocket motors during a mission last month, forcing the service to reorganize national security launch schedules that could stretch months. Deputy Chief of Space Operations Lt. Gen. Douglas Schiess told lawmakers Wednesday that the service is shifting the April GPS satellite launch to SpaceX's Falcon 9 and evaluating moves for multiple other critical programs including Next-Gen OPIR GEO, WGS, and NRO intelligence satellites. The grounding exposes a narrow launch gap: only SpaceX and ULA are currently certified under the National Security Space Launch program, leaving the Space Force exploring rideshare launches and other workarounds to prevent delays while investigators at Boeing and Lockheed Martin work to resolve the Vulcan issue. The service is simultaneously pushing to certify Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket and diversify launch capacity to reduce future vulnerability to single-provider disruptions.