Northrop Grumman writes off $91 million because of its solid-fueled booster nozzle failures
Nozzle failure during February 12, 2026 Vulcan launch
In releasing its second-quarter earnings report, Northrop Grumman revealed it has taken a charge of $91 million as a result of the repeated nozzle failures on its GEM 63XL solid-fueled boosters, used by ULA on its Vulcan rocket.
This charge against earnings is on top of a write off of $71 million in the first quarter, for the same reasons.
ULA is itself losing many millions as well, as it can’t launch and earn revenue. Worse, some customers have begun switching to other launch providers, eliminating that revenue completely.
As for fixing the nozzle issue:
Neither Northrop nor ULA has disclosed details about the cause of the anomaly. In an earnings call, Kathy Warden, president and chief executive of Northrop Grumman, said the company had taken unspecified “corrective actions” that included new components for the motor. “We progressed on the root cause investigation on the GEM 63XL program, and we are implementing corrective actions to address the anomaly we experienced on a launch in the first quarter,” she said. “These include a component redesign, which has now been proven in a successful static-fire test.”
However, she indicated that the redesigned motors may not be delivered for several months. “We expect to begin delivering the redesigned motors by the end of the year,” she said.
This delay also impacts Amazon and its Leo constellation, which awarded ULA a 39-launch contract for launching its Leo satellites. Amazon only has 396 satellites in orbit, and has to get more than 2,660 launched by July 30, 2029 to meet its FCC license. Without those Vulcan launches the company will be hard-pressed to make that date.
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