{"id":470504,"date":"2026-02-12T16:25:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T16:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/470504\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T16:25:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T16:25:11","slug":"vulcan-rocket-launches-successfully-despite-booster-burn-through","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/470504\/","title":{"rendered":"Vulcan rocket launches successfully despite booster burn-through"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feb. 12 (UPI) — A United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket launched successfully Thursday morning while experiencing an issue with its booster.<\/p>\n

An apparent burn-through<\/a> could be seen near the nozzle of the rocket’s fuel booster about 20 seconds after liftoff. Despite this, the Vulcan Centaur’s launch was a success.<\/p>\n

“We had an observation early during the flight on one of the four solid rocket motors,” ULA posted on X. “The team is currently reviewing the data.”<\/p>\n

The rocket, carrying a classified payload for Space Force, launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 4:22 a.m. EST.<\/p>\n

The launch marks the beginning of the USSF-87 mission<\/a>. The mission is to collect data to support U.S. Space Command surveillance, U.S. Space Force says. The satellites communicate with Air Force Satellite Control Network ground stations.<\/p>\n

\"United<\/p>\n

United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket streaks through the clouds after lift off from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Thursday. The Vulcan rocket delivered a national security payload for the USSF-87 mission. Photo by Pat Benic\/UPI<\/p>\n

Thursday’s payloads include two satellites used for the United States’ Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program.<\/p>\n

Since the program started in 2014, six spacecraft have been put into place.<\/p>\n

\"ULA's<\/p>\n

ULA’s Vulcan prepares for a Space Force launch on Launch Complex 41 just before sunset at Cape Canaveral, Florida on Tuesday. Photo by Pat Benic\/UPI<\/p>\n

“They provide ‘neighborhood watch’ services in the geostationary Earth arena, improving flight safety for all spacefaring nations operating in orbit,” Space Force said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Thursday’s launch marked the beginning of the Vulcan Centaur’s fourth mission to space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feb. 12 (UPI) — A United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket launched successfully Thursday morning while experiencing an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470505,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[49,48,191536,66,191537,12712,42168,191535],"class_list":["post-470504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-launch-complex-41","tag-science","tag-solid-rocket-motors","tag-space-force","tag-united-launch-alliance","tag-vulcan-rocket"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}