{"id":63150,"date":"2026-07-23T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/?guid=e13c5b3235f52bb1183fcfd0813f9468"},"modified":"2026-07-23T21:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T21:00:00","slug":"vulcan-centaur-swapped-out-again-nasa-goes-with-spacex-falcon-heavy-rocket-for-launch-of-space-weather-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/2026\/07\/23\/vulcan-centaur-swapped-out-again-nasa-goes-with-spacex-falcon-heavy-rocket-for-launch-of-space-weather-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Vulcan Centaur swapped out again: NASA goes with SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket for launch of space weather mission"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n
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NASA is shaking things up for its next mission to research the sun. <\/p>

The six satellites<\/u><\/a> of NASA's Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment<\/u><\/a> (SunRISE) mission are poised to launch to Earth orbit soon, to serve as an early warning system for incoming solar storms. They were originally slated to lift off on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket but have now been assigned a SpaceX Falcon Heavy<\/u><\/a>, according to a NASA mission update<\/u><\/a>. <\/p>

SunRISE will fly to space<\/u><\/a> as part of a rideshare mission sponsored by the U.S. Space Force's (USSF's) Space Systems Command (SSC). Though it's not stated specifically in the NASA<\/u><\/a> release, that may be a hint as to why the mission's rocket was changed. On its most recent launch, USSF-87, Vulcan experienced an anomaly in one of its solid rocket boosters<\/u><\/a> \u2014 the second such incident to occur during the rocket's four launches to date. <\/p>