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United Launch Alliance was hoping to ramp up its new Vulcan rocket launches this year, but won’t be launching any national security missions until it solves a recurring issue of booster nozzles burning off the rocket on launch.

While the Vulcan’s main first stage was able to course correct and get its Space Force payload to space on the Feb. 12 launch, one of the solid rocket boosters provided by Northrop Grumman saw an anomaly similar to what is suffered on the rocket’s second ever launch. On both flights, the nozzles on one of the boosters became engulfed in flames and broke off during liftoff.

Space Force Col. Eric Zarybnisky said last week that it will be months before they would consider using Vulcan again.

“The investigation is a meticulous, data-driven process, that enables us to identify the cause of the anomaly and necessary corrective actions,” he said. “Until the anomaly is resolved, the U.S. Space Force will not launch national security space missions aboard the Vulcan launch vehicle.” read more

By PAUL WISEMAN, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump, his Treasury secretary and his choice to lead the Federal Reserve believe they can coax the U.S. economy into partying like it’s 1999.

They are putting their faith in artificial intelligence to duplicate what happened when another technology arrived in the 1990s: the internet. Back then, the American economy surged as businesses became more productive, unemployment tumbled and inflation remained in check.

Trump is confident that his nominee to become Fed chair, Kevin Warsh, can unleash an even greater economic bonanza by jettisoning what the president sees as the central bank’s hidebound reluctance to slash interest rates.

Many economists are skeptical.

The world looks a lot different today than it did when the Spice Girls ruled radio and “Titanic’’ dominated the box office. And the story the Trump team is telling — that a visionary Fed chair, Alan Greenspan, fueled the ‘90s boom by keeping interest rates low — is incomplete at best. read more

Amy Arnott of Morningstar

Since 2002, retirement savers age 50 and over have had the option of making “catch-up” contributions to their 401(k) plans, which stack on top of the regular limits for employee contributions to tax-deferred retirement plans. The amounts were limited to $1,000 per year when they first came out but expanded to $7,500 by 2025.

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In addition, contributions to tax-deferred retirement plans are excluded from adjusted gross income, resulting in a lower tax bill on income that would otherwise be taxed. For example, a 50-year-old employee who contributed the $23,500 maximum to her retirement plan in 2025 plus the $7,500 catch-up amount would have effectively shielded $31,000 from current-year taxes, resulting in a tax break of $7,440 for someone in the 24% tax bracket. read more

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices leaped Monday on worries that war with Iran could clog the global flow of crude and make inflation even worse. U.S. stocks, meanwhile, swung from sharp losses to a tiny gain.

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  Energy prices surge as tanker disruptions and facility shutdowns rattle global supply

Crude prices jumped more than 6%, which will likely mean higher prices soon at gasoline pumps. That would hurt not only U.S. households, whose spending makes up the bulk of the U.S. economy, but also businesses with big fuel bills.

The S&P 500 fell as much as 1.2% at the start of trading, and cruise lines and airlines led the way lower. But U.S. stocks quickly erased those losses, in part because past military conflicts haven’t usually created sustained drops for the market, and the index finished the day with a gain of less than 0.1%. read more