火神火箭发射美军机密卫星突遭助推器故障，震惊太空界

A United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket carrying a suite of classified Space Force payloads suffered what appeared to be a burn-through at or near the nozzle of a strap-on solid-fuel booster Thursday but apparently made an otherwise "nominal" ascent to space, the company said.

The two-stage Vulcan rocket thundered to life at 4:22 a.m. EST and majestically climbed away from pad 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station atop 2.9 million pounds of thrust from twin methane-burning Blue Origin BE-4 engines and four Northrop Grumman solid-fuel boosters.

A United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket blasts off on a mostly-classified Space Force mission to put a space surveillance satellite in high Earth orbit. It also carried a suite of smaller payloads. United Launch Alliance

The initial moments of the flight appeared to go smoothly, but about 20 seconds after liftoff, one of the strap-on GEM 63XL boosters suffered what appeared to be a burn-through in its nozzle, with a jet of flame suddenly appearing and shooting out to one side.

"We had an observation early during flight on one of the four solid rocket motors," ULA said in a post on X. "The team is currently reviewing the data." The company said the Vulcan core stage, upper stage and spacecraft continued to perform "nominally."

Later in the ascent, shortly before the boosters were jettisoned, tracking cameras showed the rocket began a fairly rapid roll about its long axis.

Whether that unexpected motion was caused by the sideways thrust from the failed nozzle or by some other problem was not known. But once the boosters were jettisoned, the unusual motion slowed and stopped.

A Spaceflight Now photographer tracking the Vulcan launch captured the jet of flame from an apparent nozzle burn-through at the base of a solid-fuel strap-on booster, one of four attached to the base of the Vulcan rocket's first stage. Adam Bernstein / Spaceflight Now

In any case, as usual with classified military missions, ULA ended its launch broadcast shortly after the second stage engine ignition. No further updates were expected until after the planned 10-hour mission concluded.

It was the fourth launch of ULA's new Vulcan, a heavy-lift rocket with all-American components intended to replace the company's Atlas 5, powered in part by Russian-built first-stage engines, and its already-retired Delta 4 family of launchers.

Two "certification" flights were launched in 2024 to clear the rocket for use carrying high-value national security payloads. A nozzle failure during the second certification flight triggered a lengthy investigation and corrective action.

The Vulcan's third flight in 2025 successfully launched the the rocket's first Space Force payload . Thursday's launch was the rocket's second classified mission and its fourth overall.

ULA officials said before launch that the company planned to launch more than 20 flights this year, two to four Atlas 5 missions along with 16 to 18 Vulcan flights, utilizing launch pads on both coasts. Whether work to resolve the apparent nozzle failure might cut into that schedule is not yet known.

An artist's impression of two GSSAP satellites in geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the equator, where they can monitor the movements of other spacecraft. USSF

The primary payload Thursday was a Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) satellite, built by Northrop Grumman and designed to keep tabs on behavior and movement of other satellites in a 22,300-mile high orbit above the equator.

At that altitude, satellites circle the globe in lockstep with Earth's rotation and thus appear stationary in the sky. Geosynchronous orbit is favored by scores of civilian and military communications satellites, electronic eavesdropping spacecraft and others.

The GSSAP satellites are intended "to improve the country's ability to rapidly detect, learn, characterize and attribute disturbances to space systems in the geosynchronous environment," said Gary Wentz, ULA vice president of the company's Atlas and Vulcan programs.

Going into Thursday's launch, ULA had put up six GSSAP space surveillance stations, launching them in pairs in 2014, 2016 and 2022 using two Delta 4 rockets and an Atlas 5. During a pre-launch news conference, ULA managers declined to say how many GSSAPs might have been aboard the Vulcan for Thursday's flight.

Mounted below the GSSAP in the Vulcan's nose cone was another spacecraft known as an ESPAStar, a solar-powered deployable platform "capable of accommodating any combination of up to six hosted and 12 separable (fly-away) payloads," according to Northrop Grumman. All of the ESPAStar payloads launched Thursday were classified.

Mission managers said before launch the flight would mark the longest yet for a ULA rocket, a 10-hour trip to multiple points in near-geosynchronous orbit.

"This is the type of mission that the team actually designed this launch vehicle to support," Wentz said. "It's significant payloads to very complex orbits, multi-manifested national security space, direct-to-geo. So this is tailor-fit for that mission."

The United Launch Alliance is a 50-50 Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture.

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• United States Space Force

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联合发射联盟（ULA）的火神号火箭周四在发射过程中，其捆绑式固体燃料助推器的喷管或附近区域似乎出现了烧穿现象，但该公司表示，火箭在其他方面表现"正常"，成功完成了太空爬升任务。该火箭搭载了一批美国太空军的机密载荷。

美国东部时间凌晨4点22分，两级构型的火神火箭轰鸣升空，在卡纳维拉尔角太空军基地41号发射台震撼启航。火箭以290万磅的磅礴推力直冲云霄，其动力源自两台燃烧甲烷的蓝色起源BE-4发动机和四台诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司研制的固体燃料助推器。

火箭升空初期看似顺利，但发射约20秒后，一枚捆绑式GEM 63XL助推器的喷管疑似发生烧穿故障，突然有火焰从侧面喷射而出。

联合发射联盟（ULA）在社交平台X上发文称："我们在飞行初期观察到四个固体火箭发动机中的一个出现异常。团队正在分析相关数据。"该公司表示，火神火箭的核心级、上面级及航天器均保持"正常运转"。

在上升阶段的后期，助推器即将分离前，跟踪摄像机显示火箭开始沿其长轴快速旋转。

目前尚不清楚这种异常运动是由故障喷嘴产生的侧向推力还是其他问题所导致。但在助推器分离后，异常运动逐渐减缓并停止。

无论如何，与往常的机密军事任务一样，联合发射联盟（ULA）在二级发动机点火后不久便结束了发射直播。在计划为期10小时的任务完成之前，预计不会有进一步的消息更新。

这是联合发射联盟（ULA）新型火箭'火神'的第四次发射。这款重型运载火箭采用全美制组件，旨在逐步取代该公司现役的'宇宙神5型'火箭（其一级发动机部分依赖俄罗斯制造）以及已退役的'德尔塔4型'系列运载器。

2024年，为验证该火箭可安全运送高价值国家安全载荷，曾进行过两次"认证"飞行。第二次认证飞行中发生的喷管故障引发了长时间的调查与整改措施。

2025年火神火箭的第三次飞行任务成功发射了该火箭为太空军运送的首个有效载荷。周四的发射是火神火箭执行的第二次机密任务，也是其第四次总体发射。

联合发射联盟（ULA）官员在发射前表示，该公司计划今年执行超过20次发射任务，包括2至4次阿特拉斯5型火箭任务和16至18次火神火箭任务，将动用东西海岸的发射台。目前尚不清楚解决喷管明显故障的工作是否会影响这一发射计划。

周四发射的主要载荷是由诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司建造的"地球同步轨道空间态势感知计划"（GSSAP）卫星，其设计用途是监测赤道上空22300英里高度轨道上其他卫星的行为和动向。

在这一高度，卫星与地球自转同步绕行，因此在天空中看似静止不动。地球同步轨道深受众多民用及军用通信卫星、电子侦察航天器等设备的青睐。

联合发射联盟（ULA）阿特拉斯和火神项目副总裁加里·温茨表示，GSSAP卫星旨在“提升美国在同步轨道环境中快速探测、研判、识别空间系统异常并追溯其根源的能力”。

在周四发射任务之前，美国联合发射联盟（ULA）已成功部署了六颗地球同步空间态势感知计划（GSSAP）卫星。这些卫星分三批发射：2014年和2016年各使用一枚德尔塔4型火箭发射两颗，2022年又用宇宙神5型火箭发射了最后两颗。在发射前的新闻发布会上，ULA管理层拒绝透露本次火神火箭执行周四飞行任务时搭载了多少颗GSSAP卫星。

据诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司介绍，在"火神"火箭鼻锥内的GSSAP卫星下方，还搭载了另一艘名为ESPAStar的航天器。这是一种太阳能驱动的可展开平台，"能够容纳最多6个固定载荷和12个可分离（飞离式）载荷的任意组合"。周四发射的所有ESPAStar有效载荷均属机密。

任务负责人在发射前表示，此次飞行将创下联合发射联盟（ULA）火箭的最长任务纪录——这趟耗时10小时的旅程将抵达近地球同步轨道的多个点位。

温茨表示：“这正是团队设计这款运载火箭所要支持的任务类型——将重要载荷送入极其复杂的轨道，执行多载荷国家安全太空任务，直达地球同步轨道。因此，这款火箭完全是为该任务量身定制的。”

联合发射联盟是波音公司与洛克希德·马丁公司各持股50%的合资企业。

• 联合发射联盟

• 美国太空军

• 太空

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