A Vulcan Centaur pathfinder stage serves as a stand-in for various ground system procedures at Cape Canaveral, Florida, earlier this year.

The Space Force is starting to look ahead to its NSSL 3 launch competition even as it faces a longer wait for ULA’s Vulcan Centaur to begin launching NSSL 2 missions.

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Sandra Erwin writes about military space programs, policy, technology and the industry that supports this sector. She has covered the military, the Pentagon, Congress and the defense industry for nearly two decades as editor of NDIA’s National Defense...