We are the team that launches the impossible into orbit. For decades, ULA, and our heritage vehicles, have redefined what’s possible beyond Earth, launching with unmatched precision and purpose. We don’t just send rockets into space—we launch humanity’s boldest ambitions. At the edge of innovation, we deliver the missions that shape our world and unlock the future.
Demonstrating our deep culture of mission assurance, ULA rockets deliver critical payloads to the most complex and exotic orbits. Our engineering expertise enables us to tackle challenges others can’t—from intricate deep-space trajectories to the deployment of critical national security assets.
ULA specializes in the most demanding missions, where precision, flexibility and performance are paramount. We deliver your payload directly to LEO, MEO, GEO and beyond.
100+ national security missions successfully launched, safeguarding our nation’s interests with unwavering commitment and purpose.
Pioneering deep space exploration: We’ve launched missions to every planet in our solar system, pushing the boundaries of scientific discovery.
Interesting intergalactic fact—we’ve launched all 20 U.S. missions to Mars.
ULA’s Vulcan next-generation rocket offers a unique combination of modularity, power and precision unmatched by competitors. Its advanced Centaur V upper stage truly sets it apart. Providing unparalleled endurance and restart capability to deliver payloads to complex, high-energy orbits with pinpoint accuracy, Centaur is the performance advantage over other launch systems.
Vulcan’s booster is powered by innovative BE-4 engines and has a flexible design that can be configured with up to six solid rocket boosters, making it a single rocket that can efficiently handle the spectrum of missions from medium to heavy lift, a capability no one else offers in a single rocket.
Vulcan redefines what’s possible, offering unparalleled flexibility with the precision to go anywhere the mission requires.
Delivering with absolute precision: Because when the stakes are highest, there’s no room for error.
ULA’s Vulcan next-generation rocket offers a unique combination of modularity, power and precision unmatched by competitors. Its advanced Centaur V upper stage truly sets it apart. Providing unparalleled endurance and restart capability to deliver payloads to complex, high-energy orbits with pinpoint accuracy, Centaur is the performance advantage over other launch systems.
Vulcan’s booster is powered by innovative BE-4 engines and has a flexible design that can be configured with up to six solid rocket boosters, making it a single rocket that can efficiently handle the spectrum of missions from medium to heavy lift, a capability no one else offers in a single rocket.
Vulcan redefines what’s possible, offering unparalleled flexibility with the precision to go anywhere the mission requires.
Delivering with absolute precision: Because when the stakes are highest, there’s no room for error.
Centaur’s legacy dates back to the 1960s and remains the highest performing upper stage in the industry.
It was developed in partnership with NASA for the Series D Atlas rocket. It later helped the first U.S. spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on the Moon with the Surveyor 1 mission.
To date, more than 280 Centaurs have flown. Its success stems from its high propellant mass fraction driven by efficient, lightweight structure, along with its high-performance propulsion. Centaur can restart its RL10 engines multiple times, enabling complex orbital insertions and deep space missions.
Centaur handles everything that comes after liftoff, from LEO to GEO to heliocentric orbit. Many space missions have depended on it, from national security to NASA. Centaur’s innovative technology has decades of experience that has delivered missions to every planet in the solar system.
ULA is honored to have launched 60 percent of the national security space missions for the Department of Defense and nearly 100 percent of the most challenging missions directly to geosynchronous orbit.
We’re honored to be involved in America’s return to the Moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program and we are excited to be working on a study to integrate our newest upper stage with the Space Launch System.
ULA provided the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS), an upper stage derived from our Delta IV program, for the successful Artemis I and II launches for NASA, with Artemis III mission hardware currently being developed.
Centaur’s legacy dates back to the 1960s and remains the highest performing upper stage in the industry.
It was developed in partnership with NASA for the Series D Atlas rocket. It later helped the first U.S. spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on the Moon with the Surveyor 1 mission.
To date, more than 280 Centaurs have flown. Its success stems from its high propellant mass fraction driven by efficient, lightweight structure, along with its high-performance propulsion. Centaur can restart its RL10 engines multiple times, enabling complex orbital insertions and deep space missions.
We’re honored to be involved in America’s return to the Moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program and we are excited to be working on a study to integrate our newest upper stage with the Space Launch System.
ULA provided the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS), an upper stage derived from our Delta IV program, for the successful Artemis I and II launches for NASA, with Artemis III mission hardware currently being developed.
At ULA, we believe in the boundless potential of space for humanity. For nearly two decades, we have been going beyond, relentlessly advancing expectations of what’s truly possible in the cosmos. Every launch is a testament to our unwavering commitment to precision, adaptability, and the audacious spirit of exploration that drives us to deliver the critical missions that shape our world and push the boundaries of human endeavor.
ULA’s rockets boast a tremendous success record, demonstrating our deep culture of mission assurance, consistently delivering critical payloads with unparalleled accuracy.
For decades, ULA has been the steadfast rocket launcher for vital U.S. national security. We've launched more than 100 national security missions, safeguarding national interests, and pioneered deep space exploration by sending missions to every planet in our solar system. Our efforts were foundational in deploying the Global Positioning System, essential infrastructure for billions worldwide.
Our Vulcan rocket is engineered for the most demanding missions, offering significant payload capacity: up to 60,000 pounds to LEO, 32,000 pounds to GTO, and 14,300 pounds direct to GEO.
ULA has secured landmark contracts affirming our future leadership in space. We're launching 47 missions for Amazon Leo, the largest commercial agreement ever awarded in the industry. ULA was awarded a substantial $4.5 billion in the U.S. Space Force National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 2 competition and $5.4 billion for the Phase 3 competition, ensuring our continued strategic role in national security for years to come.
In fact, we have more than 70 Vulcan missions already on contract and look forward to launching those missions for our commercial, civil and government customers.
The spacecraft are encapsulated in a 17.7-ft (5.4-m) diameter medium payload fairing. The PLF is a sandwich composite structure made with a vented aluminum-honeycomb core and graphite-epoxy face sheets. The bisector (two-piece shell) PLF encapsulates both the Centaur and the satellites. The vehicle’s heights with the 5-meter medium PLF is approximately 205 ft. (62.5 m).
The Centaur second stage is 10 ft (3 m) in diameter and 41.5 ft (12.6 m) in length. Its propellant tanks are pressure-stabilized and constructed of corrosion-resistant stainless steel. Centaur is a cryogenic vehicle, fueled with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, powered by an RL10C-1-1 engine producing 23,825 lbs (106 kilo-Newtons) of thrust. The cryogenic tanks are insulated with a combination of helium purged blankets, radiation shields and spray-on foam insulation (SOFI). The Centaur forward adapter (CFA) provides structural mountings for the fault-tolerant avionics system and structural electrical interfaces with the spacecraft.
The booster is 12.5 ft (3.8 m) in diameter and 106.5 ft (32.5 m) in length. The booster’s tanks are structurally rigid and constructed of isogrid aluminum barrels, spun-formed aluminum domes and intertank skirts. Booster propulsion is provided by the RD-180 engine system (a single engine with two thrust chambers). The RD-180 burns RP-1 (Rocket Propellant -1 or highly purified kerosene) and liquid oxygen and delivers 820,200 lbs (3.83 mega-Newtons) of thrust at sea level. Five solid rocket boosters (SRBs) generate the additional power required at liftoff, with each providing 371,550 lbs (1.6 mega-Newtons) of thrust. The Centaur avionics system, provides guidance, flight control and vehicle sequencing functions during the booster and Centaur phases of flight.
Space Launch Complex-41, the East Coast home of the Vulcan and Atlas V rockets at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, employs a “clean pad” concept of operations to ready launch vehicles and payloads for ascent into space. The rocket elements are assembled atop a Vulcan Launch Platform (VLP) inside the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) located adjacent to the launch pad. The platform and fully stacked Altas V rocket then travel by rail approximately 1,800 feet northward from the VIF to the pad for the final countdown, fueling and liftoff.
1. Advanced Spaceflight Operations Center (ASOC)
2. Delta Operations Center (DOC)
3. Amazon Payload Processing Facility
4. Vertical Integration Facility (VIF)
