Centaur V

Return Vulcan to flight - grounded since the February 12, 2026 USSF-87 GEM 63XL solid-rocket-booster nozzle anomaly and the resulting U.S. Space Force pause on NSSL Vulcan launches. As of September 19, 2026 ULA had not posted a return-to-flight date; a spokesperson told Ars Technica on September 11 that the investigation is ongoing and that ULA will share the Vulcan Leo 1 mission launch date only upon completion of that investigation and coordination with Amazon. Independent trackers still list LV-01 as no earlier than late September 2026 (NET September 30, status TBD) from SLC-41 on a six-booster VC6L, carrying 45 satellites on the LEO-optimized Centaur V, which completed a wet dress rehearsal on August 6 and was stacked in VIF-G on August 15. A senior Space Force acquisition official confirmed on September 16, 2026 that Space Systems Command will review data from that Amazon Leo flight separately before restoring Vulcan to the national security manifest, so returning to flight commercially and regaining NSSL clearance are two distinct milestones.