ULA's Vulcan Rocket Successfully Launches Military Navigation Satellite

2025-08-13
ULA's Vulcan Rocket Successfully Launches Military Navigation Satellite

United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully launched its powerful Vulcan Centaur rocket on August 12th, carrying the U.S. military's first experimental navigation satellite in 48 years, NTS-3. The satellite boasts advanced anti-jamming technology and a reprogrammable-in-orbit software architecture designed to enhance resilience against jamming and spoofing. This launch marks Vulcan's third flight; previous flights experienced minor anomalies but ultimately succeeded, demonstrating the rocket's reliability and making ULA the second provider, after SpaceX, certified by the U.S. Space Force for national security launches.