The Dawn of Orbital Vigilance

The inaugural flight of 2026 marks a pivotal advancement in American orbital vigilance.

A Midnight Ascent

Vulcan stands ready. Amidst the salt-sprayed silence of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, United Launch Alliance technicians have finalized the Launch Readiness Review for the Vulcan Centaur V-005, a towering architecture of propulsion configured with four solid rocket boosters to pierce the Florida night at 3:30 AM EST this Thursday.

Precision in the Void

Gravity yields. Following the rhythmic burnout of the BE-4 engines and the clean separation of the booster stage at five minutes into the flight, the Centaur V upper stage will ignite its dual L3Harris RL-10C-1-1A engines to navigate the vacuum with 106 kN of thrust, carrying the weight of national security toward the stars.

Silent Sentinels

Security thrives. By delivering the GSSAP 7 and 8 satellites—colloquially known as Hornet 7 and 8—directly into a circular geosynchronous orbit 35,000 kilometers above the Earth, this mission eliminates the need for fuel-depleting orbital circularization maneuvers, thereby extending the operational lifespan of these Northrop Grumman-built observers as they monitor the vital pathways of the high frontier.