A launch company with millions of dollars invested in north Alabama has become only the second firm authorized to fly complex national security space missions.

United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced its Vulcan rocket has been certified by the U.S. Space Force to fly National Security Space Launch (NSSL) missions. The rocket can inject NSSL spacecraft directly into geosynchronous orbit, which ULA calls, “a critical requirement supporting the country facing evolving threats from China and Russia.”

The nine-year certification process involved 52 criteria, more than 180 discrete tasks and two certification flight demonstrations, according to ULA.

“Vulcan’s Centaur upper stage is a high-velocity and maneuverable platform to address evolving on-orbit threats in this new space warfighting domain and will offer extreme on-orbit endurance and flexibility for complex orbital insertions to meet the changing landscape and requirements of our nation,” said Bruno.

The certification comes as U.S. Space Force is planning to ratchet up both the pace and the complexity of national security launches – with potentially large implications for north Alabama, AL.com has reported. Previously, only one company’s rockets had that certification: SpaceX, with its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy platforms.

United Launch Alliance has a long history of carrying satellites into orbit under the National Security Space Launch program, which funds the launch of high-value military and intelligence satellites. It has flown 100 NSSL missions using its Atlas and Delta rocket families, with the final launches for both families taking place last year. Its new Vulcan is designed to replace both platforms.

The company assembles some of its rockets in a 2-million-square-foot facility in Decatur.

Blue Origin also provides BE-4 rocket engines for ULA’s Vulcan – engines that are made and tested in Huntsville then integrated into Vulcan at ULA’s Decatur factory.

Blue Origin is also chasing NSSL certification with its New Glenn launch vehicle, which reached orbit on its first flight Jan. 16.