ULA leans on a Lockheed loan guarantee as Vulcan stays grounded

A booster nozzle anomaly has kept ULA's Vulcan rocket grounded since February, and the company disclosed a $500 million Lockheed-backed borrowing.

United Launch Alliance took out a loan backed by a guarantee from parent Lockheed Martin, disclosed in a July 23 SEC filing, according to the fact sheet. Lockheed, which owns half of ULA alongside Boeing, guaranteed borrowings with maximum potential future payments of $500 million; the recognized fair value of the guarantee obligation was $64 million. Lockheed also cut its space division profit forecast for the year.

The strain traces to the Vulcan Centaur rocket. A solid rocket booster nozzle anomaly struck the USSF-87 mission in February 2026 — the payload still reached orbit, but Vulcan has not flown since. A similar anomaly hit Vulcan's second launch in October 2024. Northrop Grumman, which builds the solid rocket motors, is investigating, and says redesigned motor deliveries may not begin until the end of the year. ULA had expected 18 to 22 launches in 2026 and cites a backlog of more than 80; its Atlas 5 has flown just three times this year, all carrying Amazon satellites.

Heavy-lift capacity is the bottleneck for putting communications, navigation, and observation satellites in orbit. A grounded Vulcan removes a major Western provider from the field, narrowing competition and slowing the buildout that makes orbital infrastructure cheaper and more available. This is a setback for capacity, not a collapse.

Watch for a Vulcan return-to-flight date, which ULA has not announced, and Northrop's redesigned motors. Caveats: it is unconfirmed whether Boeing joined the loan guarantee, and Boeing's quarterly results were not yet out.

Source: SpaceNews