The first two Vulcan test flights last year used a configuration of the rocket with two strap-on boosters to add an extra burst of speed off the launch pad. For this flight, which the Space Force has named USSF-106, the launcher will fly with four solid rocket boosters made by Northrop Grumman.

United Launch Alliance (ULA) is gearing up for a long-awaited comeback, returning to secretive payload lifts for the National Security Space Launch program with its heavy-lift Vulcan Centaur rocket.