Vulcan Centaur Launches USSF-87 Despite Booster Anomaly

A United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket lifted off successfully early Thursday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, carrying classified payloads for the U.S. Space Force on the USSF-87 mission, despite an apparent anomaly with one of its solid rocket boosters.

The launch occurred at 4:22 a.m. Eastern time from Space Launch Complex 41, marking the rocket's fourth flight overall and its second for national security operations. Video footage showed a burnthrough near the nozzle of one of the four GEM 63XL solid rocket boosters, built by Northrop Grumman, about 20 seconds after liftoff. Sparks were visible as the vehicle climbed through the predawn skies, and the rocket exhibited a more pronounced roll during its pitch-over maneuver than is typical. The boosters separated as planned after roughly 90 seconds, and the first stage's BE-4 engines, supplied by Blue Origin, continued to perform nominally for about five more minutes, placing the Centaur upper stage on track for geosynchronous orbit more than 22,000 miles above Earth.

"We had an observation early during the flight on one of the four solid rocket motors," United Launch Alliance said in a statement. "The...