Northrop Grumman takes $91 million more in charges on Vulcan booster program
Northrop Grumman · United Launch Alliance
Northrop added a $91 million charge on its GEM 63XL solid rocket motor program, bringing 2026 charges to $162 million.
what happened
Northrop Grumman took a $91 million unfavorable adjustment in the second quarter of 2026 on its GEM 63XL solid rocket motor program, adding to a $71 million charge in the first quarter, for $162 million in total 2026 charges, per SpaceNews and Defense Daily. The charges follow a nozzle burn-through on one of the boosters during a February 2026 Vulcan Centaur launch; Northrop says a redesigned component has passed a static-fire test and expects to begin delivering redesigned motors by the end of the year.
why it matters
Vulcan has not launched since the February anomaly, and the Space Force has been weighing flying Vulcan without solid boosters in the meantime. The delay and cost overrun fall on ULA's manifest of national security and commercial launches that depend on Vulcan's solid-boosted configuration for full performance.
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- Northrop Grumman, United Launch Alliance
- Category
- financial
- Impact
- notable
- SNR
- 4 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-07-21
- Published
- 2026-07-22 05:33 UTC