A loud boom rocked the Space Coast early Feb. 12 as a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket soared into the sky above Cape Canaveral, but what many noticed was the rocket’s unexpected light show.
After an initial delay, the Vulcan blasted into the sky at 4:22 a.m. Thursday from Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Shortly after liftoff, sparks appeared briefly from the solid rocket area.
The missile zoomed up and east under the power of two BE-4 core engines and four side-mounted solid rocket launchers. Then, just two and a half minutes into the flight, those four solid engines separated from the rocket’s center stage, appearing as four small points of light moving away from the rocket.
FLORIDA TODAY photographers observed a flash and sparks coming from the rocket shortly in flight. United Launch Alliance said there was “an observation” that its team is looking into, but it had no impact on the mission being carried out properly in orbit.
“We had an early in-flight observation on one of the four solid rocket motors, the team is currently analyzing the data. The booster, upper stage and spacecraft continued to operate on a nominal trajectory,” said a February 12 update from United Launch Alliance.
Vulcan has experienced a solid crash with the booster rocket before. During its October 2024 test flight, the Vulcan experienced a problem inside the booster nozzle, with many witnessing a brief spark coming from the side of the rocket. That payload made it to orbit on that flight too without a problem.
“The integrated US government and contractor team is reviewing technical data, available imagery, and establishing a recovery team to collect any debris. We will conduct a thorough investigation, identify the root cause, and implement any necessary corrective action prior to the next Vulcan mission,” Gary Wentz, ULA’s vice president of the Atlas and Vulcan Programs, said in a media update.
The Space Force later released a statement regarding the booster anomaly and the successful deployment of the USSF-87 payload. The spacecraft was deployed just over six hours into the flight.
“The Vulcan rocket successfully delivered the mission to its designated orbits despite an early-flight anomaly in one of the four solid rocket motors,” the Space Force said in a press release. “The USSF SYD 80 team will work closely with ULA in accordance with our space flight quality assurance process prior to the next national security Vulcan space mission.”
ULA Vulcan rocket launch from Florida on Space Force mission
Known as USSF-87, the Feb. 12 mission was called the space force’s “neighborhood watch” for geostationary orbits, which are satellites orbiting in the same direction and speed as Earth.
USSF-87 is a Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) spacecraft developed by Northrop Grumman that is designed to enhance the Space Force’s ability to rapidly identify, assess, and attribute disruptions affecting spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit. This includes identifying the potential threat of satellite collisions.
ULA said this spacecraft was the heaviest Vulcan payload flown to date.
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ULA to see more rocket launches from Florida and California
During a press conference on February 10, company officials said they expect an increase in the release rate this year. While ULA launched a total of six times last year — five Atlas V rockets and one Vulcan — the company plans more launches from the Cape, as well as a debut Vulcan launch from California. These missions will range from national security to Amazon Leo internet satellites.
“We are well positioned for the future,” said interim CEO John Elbon.
Elbon has served as interim CEO since Tory Bruno left the company in December 2025 to lead Blue Origin’s national security program. Elbon had a previous career at partner Boeing and has currently been with ULA for eight years.
The next ULA mission is not currently on Cape’s launch schedule, but is expected to be the launch of a batch of Amazon Leo Internet satellites (formerly known as Project Kuiper) atop another Vulcan rocket.
NASA SpaceX Crew-12 launches immediately from Cape Canaveral
The next launch from Cape Canaveral could be as early as 5:15 a.m. on Friday, February 13, from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. SpaceX is ready to launch NASA’s next crew of astronauts, dubbed Crew-12, to the International Space Station atop a Falcon 9 rocket.
The launch was originally scheduled to take place earlier in the week, but was delayed due to weather along the northern flight path, which must be clear in the event of an abort. While weather is expected to be low risk at the launch pad, weather on the ascent route is still forecast to be moderate on February 13. Conditions along the ascent path and the Cape are forecast to deteriorate over the next 72 hours, according to the Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron.
The FLORIDA TODAY Space team will bring you the latest updates at FloridaToday.com/Space.
Brooke Edwards is a space reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: ULA Vulcan rocket lifts off from Cape, sparks seen by booster