For the first time, segments of a Vulcan rocket landed at Vandenberg Space Force Base ahead of the West Coast debut of the United Launch Alliance vehicle sometime later this year. 

ULA’s RocketShip recently docked at the harbor on the South Base with the Vulcan rocket components stowed inside the huge cargo vessel.

“Having flight hardware again at Vandenberg was really cool to see,” said Ron Forston, ULA vice president of launch operations. 

Crews spent several days offloading the hardware while mindful of tides that could have delayed the delivery. 

“I think the team did a great job,” Fortson said, adding that ULA employees from the East Coast helped out with the Vandenberg arrival.

On the first day, workers removed the Vulcan’s Centaur upper stage from the RocketShip, followed by the booster the next day.

“We tried to take off the payload adapter and the interstage adapter and, unfortunately, the swells were pretty bad,” Fortson said. 

After pausing the unloading chores for two days, the swells cooperated so the team didn’t have to wait for the next opportunity for suitable tides a couple of weeks away.

“It was a great effort by the team to really get it completed in time,” Fortson said. 

The trek for RocketShip from ULA’s manufacturing plant involved traveling 2,642 river miles — along the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers — before reaching the Gulf of Mexico. The trip to reach the Pacific Ocean also took the cargo vessel through the Panama Canal.

RocketShip, at 312 feet long and weighting nearly 19 million pounds, previously delivered other ULA rocket components to Vandenberg, but it’s been a few years since the last visit.

The firm’s final Atlas V andDelta IV rocket launches from the West Coast occurred in late 2022.

Building on its heritage Atlas and Delta rocket families, ULA has employed new technologies in creating Vulcan, which sports American-made BE-4 engines manufactured by Blue Origin.

Vandenberg’s first Vulcan liftoff is aiming for late second quarter of 2026, but the departure date will depend up on the readiness of the rocket and payload.

Since the last Atlas V launch from Vandenberg, Space Launch Complex-3 East has undergone modifications to accommodate Vulcan.

SLC-3E previously launched a variety of Atlas boosters, including former missiles recycled to carry satellites plus the Atlas IIAS and the Atlas V rockets.

To ready for the new rocket, crews changed the interfaces between the facility and the rocket to make them fit the height and diameter of Vulcan. 

For instance, work at the structure has included new launch platforms and repaired doors on the mobile service tower — the tall white structure visible on the horizon south of Ocean Avenue (Highway 246). 

They also installed the environmental control system responsible for temperature, humidity and other aspects to ensure the rocket and payload remain healthy while sitting on the launch pad.

“What we’re waiting on is there’s still some piping we need to make all the connections between all the tanks and all the systems, so that’s probably a big focus we’ll have over the next several months,” Fortson said. 

Supply chain issues have impacted the originally planned timeline for getting SLC-3 ready for the Vulcan, Fortson added.

With the piping in place, ULA employees will conduct tests of the entire system to ensure the facility is ready to support SLC-3’s inaugural rocket launch.

In addition to the physical work, ULA has completed the process to get secure various county, state and national approvals. 

The West Coast’s inaugural Vulcan launch won’t be the first for many of the ULA employees at Vandenberg since they have traveled east to help with Florida missions.

“All the things they’re learning on Vulcan here are things that are going to help them when we start activating and actually processing the rocket out there as well,” he added.

ULA representatives remained coy about the firm’s number of employees at Vandenberg, only saying the West Coast workforce is augmented for each launch. In total, ULA plans to have 150 ULA team members supporting launches.

The U.S. Space Force has secured seven national security missions — payloads for various military uses — over the next couple of years, according to ULA.