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

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.