ULA Targets Oct. 29 Launch for Vulcan's Return to Flight

United Launch Alliance has set October 29 as the no-earlier-than date for Vulcan's next flight, a mission carrying satellites for Amazon's Leo broadband constellation, according to Ars Technica's Rocket Report. A second Amazon Leo flight on Vulcan is also planned before the end of the year, the report said.

The upcoming launches would mark a return to flight for the rocket, which relies on four solid-fueled boosters alongside its main engines. Ars Technica's Eric Berger wrote that if the solid rocket boosters perform as expected, Vulcan could be positioned for a significant increase in launch cadence in 2027.

When Is ULA's Vulcan Rocket Set to Return to Flight?

The October 29 date applies to the first of two Amazon Leo missions now on ULA's near-term schedule, per the Rocket Report. No additional technical details about the booster qualification or launch-readiness review were included in the available reporting, but the timing suggests ULA believes the vehicle has cleared whatever review process followed its most recent flight.

What's Next for Amazon's Leo Satellite Launches?

Both of the next two Vulcan missions are slated to carry payloads for Amazon's Leo constellation, according to the report. A second Amazon Leo flight is expected to follow the October 29 launch later this year, giving ULA back-to-back missions for the same customer as it works to rebuild flight tempo.

How Successful Was South Korea's Nuri Rocket Launch?

Separately, South Korea's domestically built Nuri rocket deployed five satellites for the country's first homegrown microsatellite constellation during its fifth flight, Yonhap News Agency reported, as cited in the Rocket Report. The primary payload consisted of five satellites for the New-space Earth Observation Satellite Constellation for National Safety program, and nine of ten CubeSat secondary payloads separated as planned. One secondary payload, PERSAT-02 from South Korean startup Quaternion, failed to separate from the rocket.

The flight was Nuri's fourth consecutive success following a failed debut in 2021, bringing the rocket's overall success rate to 80 percent. South Korea's Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon pledged continued government backing for a shift toward private-sector-led launches following the mission, according to the report.

Why Did HyImpulse Delay Its SR75 Test Flight?

German launch startup HyImpulse has pushed the second flight of its SR75 suborbital rocket from the end of 2026 into spring 2027, European Spaceflight reported, as relayed in the Rocket Report. HyImpulse said the new timeline reflects remaining work required under its launch license and seasonal weather conditions at the SaxaVord spaceport in Scotland, rather than readiness issues with the vehicle itself. The flight will be the SR75's first launch from European soil and its first carrying commercial payloads, following an initial test flight from Australia's Koonibba Test Range in May 2024.

Full details on the Falcon 9 scrub referenced in this week's report were not included in the available material.

Artiglio is A coming-soon iPhone chief of staff for briefings and drafts. Not on the App Store yet.