In a press conference today leading up to the maiden launch of the ULA Vulcan in the early hours of Monday morning, ULA Vice President of Government and Commercial Programs Gary Wentz stated that the vast majority of the new rocket is either flight-proven or a variant of flight-proven hardware. He said that “the only hardware that hasn’t flown prior to this flight is the BE-4 engine. All the other or variants thereof have flown on Atlas or Delta flights, missions for other customers.”
Vulcan on the launch pad at SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on January 8, 2023 Photo by TJ Waller / Florida Media Now
United Launch Alliance moved its new Vulcan rocket to the launch pad at SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force station this afternoon. Vulcan will make its maiden launch at 2:18 am EST Monday January 8. The latest forecasts call for an 85% chance of acceptable launch conditions weather-wise, leaving only a 15% Probability of Violation of weather criteria. That forecast will likely be updated by the 45th Weather Wing of the US Space Force as soon as tomorrow and is subject to change.
The Peregrine lunar lander is scheduled to launch atop a new United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket. This launch is set for January 8, 2024, at 2:18 a.m. EST from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
United Launch Alliance (ULA) hoists the Certification-1 (Cert-1) payloads atop the Vulcan rocket in the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) adjacent to Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Photo courtesy of United Launch Alliance.
United Launch Alliance announced today that they have concluded their Launch Readiness Review for the maiden launch of their Vulcan rocket and that the mission has been cleared to proceed to its planned liftoff at 2:18 am EST on Monday, January 8th. They also added that the weather at liftoff time currently has only a 15% Probability of Violation at launch time, meaning that forecasters are calling for an 85% chance of acceptable launch conditions. The new rocket will carry the Astrobiotics Peregrine lunar lander built under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program and a secondary payload of memorials for Celestis.
Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander is encapsulated in the payload fairing, or nose cone, of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket on Nov. 21, 2023, at Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo: NASA
2023 ended on a high note for NASA with the dual launches of a Falcon Heavy containing the X-37B space plane and a Falcon 9 Starlink mission less than three hours later. That’s a hard act to beat, but now all eyes are turning to another major launch set for January 8th.
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan Certification-1 (Cert-1) rocket sits atop Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance
Tory Bruno, CEO of United Launch Alliance (ULA) has announced that the Wet Dress Rehearsal of the company’s new Vulcan booster was completed successfully on December 12, clearing the way for the rocket’s inaugural launch on Jan 8, 2024.
A pelican, oblivious to ULA’s new Vulcan rocket being fueled during a wet dress rehearsal, continues its flight plan undisturbed. Image by Richard P Gallagher
Cape Canaveral, FL. Yesterday’s wet dress rehearsal of the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket was a significant event in the lead-up to its inaugural launch. The Vulcan rocket was rolled out to Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on December 6, 2023, in preparation for this extensive practice countdown.
ULA Launch in December Will Herald New Era in US Space Program
Artist rendering of Astrobotic’s Peregrine Lunar Lander. Credit: Astrobotic
Kennedy Space Center, FL – NASA’s ambitious plan to deliver over 40 payloads to the moon’s surface through its Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative marks a significant milestone in lunar exploration.
An Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10C-X prototype engine undergoes hot-fire testing at Aerojet Rocketdyne’s facility in West Palm Beach, Florida. Credit: Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3 Harris Technologies company.
Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company, is planning to ramp up production of its latest variant of the venerable RL10 rocket engine at the company’s West Palm Beach, Florida facility. The company also plans to add staff at its South Florida facility to enable the higher pace of manufacturing the engine.
