NASA switches launch provider from ULA to SpaceX for its SunRise solar mission
NASA yesterday announced that it has switched the rocket it will use to launch its SunRise six-cubesat mission to study the Sun’s corona, from ULA’s Vulcan rocket to SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, becoming a secondary payload on a Space Force launch.
NASA’s SunRISE (Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment) mission will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, shifting from its original ride into space aboard a United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur vehicle. NASA will share updated launch timing in the near future. The heliophysics mission will fly as a rideshare sponsored by the United States Space Force’s Space Systems Command.
The launch was originally supposed to take place now, in the summer of 2026, but at present the Vulcan rocket is grounded due to problems with its solid-fueled strap-on boosters. NASA apparently decided it would be better to switch to the Falcon Heavy launch, even though as a secondary payload it loses control over exactly when it can launch, and at present the Space Force’s next Falcon Heavy launch is scheduled for 2027.
The switch means a loss of more income for ULA due to its inability to get Vulcan launching regularly and reliably. It also suggests Vulcan repairs remains stalled, and that it will not resume regular launches until next year.
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Given NASA’s level of “insight” into the status of Vulcan, this decision just bolsters my notion that Amazon Leo is secretly negotiating with SpaceX for a Really Big Block Buy of F9 launches to insure its constellation gets deployed by the three-years-from-now deadline. Vulcan was supposed to do the biggest part of the Amazon Leo deployment job, but its ability to do so is now in serious question – more serious than we previously knew it would seem. Even the Trump administration FCC has indicated that the window at the mercy bank is now closed to further withdrawals for Amazon Leo. Amazon either has its full constellation on-orbit by 7-30-2029 or it will have to make do with whatever population of birds it has managed to loft by that date.
I agree. I also think this speculated the Amazon/SpaceX negotiation might explain why SpaceX is no longer taking reservations on future Transporter missions.
There is also the possibility that Amazon is negotiating with SpaceX to use Starship to launch Leo satellites. Now wouldn’t that be a kick?