The rapid expansion of commercial space launch providers and innovations presents new opportunities to meet national security needs with greater speed, agility and resilience. This evolving launch landscape creates unprecedented potential for industry to play an integral role in delivering mission success, but it also raises the stakes for reliability and integration.
The National Space Security Launch (NSSL) program is designed to meet these challenges by sustaining access to space through a broadened and reliable launch base.
Preventing costly failures during launch remains critical. No spacecraft manufacturer or system operator wants to see years of work lost in minutes—yet the margin for error is razor thin. Even a minor oversight in design and manufacturing can lead to catastrophic results.
The Aerospace Corporation partners closely with commercial launch providers and government customers to enable this next chapter of space access. As the nation’s trusted advisor for space, Aerospace brings the experience, technical insight and end-to-end integration support to ensure that even the most complex missions succeed—without slowing innovation.
Broadening the Industrial Base for NSSL
The NSSL program requires at least two families of space launch vehicles capable of delivering any national security payload, as well as a robust launch infrastructure and industrial base. Under Phase 3 of the program, Aerospace supported the U.S. Space Force to implement a two-lane (hybrid) approach to bring on new launch service providers, put capabilities on orbit more efficiently, and enhance resiliency while decreasing costs. Lane 1 establishes an annual onramp for new entrants to launch risk tolerant payloads putting more capabilities in orbit faster utilizing a tiered risk management approach. Lane 2 requires certified providers to meet performance and reliability criteria for critical missions, continuing the legacy of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program (now NSSL).
Lane 1 enables government to explore innovative solutions with new commercial providers while maturing those capabilities to meet future requirements. It increases the resilience of the supplier base and creates options for accepting greater risk than a certified Lane 2 launch. Last month, ULA’s Vulcan Centaur received its certification to launch NSSL missions, joining SpaceX’s Falcon 9 as a certified provider. The Space Force also selected Rocket Lab and Stoke Space to compete for Phase 3 Lane 1 missions.
“Launch today is more than just driving towards 100% mission success—it’s about making informed decisions across a spectrum of risk,” said Randy Kendall, vice president of Launch, Missiles, and Mobility at Aerospace. “Whether it’s launching a billion-dollar national security satellite or an emerging small launch vehicle, Aerospace’s role is to identify and reduce the risks that matter most.”
Continuing a Legacy of Mission Success
Aerospace supported the NSSL certification of the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Vulcan Centaur launch systems, which introduced cost-competitive options while maintaining the reliability expected for high-value government payloads. The company has also been instrumental in developing the tailorable, tiered approach to Lane 1 mission assurance—starting with the launch contractor-developed mission assurance plans.
“One of our core responsibilities is to give objective assessments to the government on what it’s buying, based on decades of lessons learned in space,” said Geoff Reber, principal engineer/scientist in Enterprise Systems Engineering at Aerospace. “We do that by working shoulder-to-shoulder with contractors, not just waiting for a deliverable.
“When Falcon was being certified, our engineers were right there with SpaceX’s engineers and the government customer. We learned from them, and we also pointed them to otherwise niche data, worked on solving hard technical problems, and provided independent analyses that identified issues before they were failures and supplemented SpaceX’s own understanding of their system,” he said.
Advancing the Future of Space Launch
As the Space Force seeks to leverage commercial innovation for rapid-response space capabilities, Aerospace is adapting its mission assurance approach to match. The service’s recently released Commercial Space Strategy emphasizes resiliency, speed and greater partnership with the private sector.
Aerospace is collaboratively shaping this future by supporting responsive and tactically responsive launch architectures that meet the needs of modern defense. This includes streamlining the resolution of structural load challenges, enabling faster integration of multi-manifest missions, agile manifesting and on-demand access to space.
A Trusted Partner in a Changing Landscape
As the national security space community increasingly depends on emerging commercial launch capabilities, Aerospace’s mission assurance efforts remain a foundation for confidence. Aerospace brings the experience, technical insight and end-to-end integration support to ensure that even the most complex missions succeed without slowing innovation and that new solutions are effectively integrated into national security missions—no matter the provider, platform or mission.