It was a high-stakes moment under the cloak of the early morning. The launch of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket stood to impact more than just the approval of a single mission. It was a convergence of major reputations, billions of dollars, and the future of ULA’s lunar exploration dreams. Not to mention, the debut flight of brand new rocket engines that would determine ULA’s destiny.
On Monday, ULA achieved what many considered impossible. Their next-generation rocket, the Vulcan Centaur, successfully took off in the wee hours of the morning, carrying Astrobotic’s lunar lander as its primary payload.
At precisely 2:18 AM EST, the heavy-lift rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Center. The first stage, powered by two methane-fueled BE-4 engines from Blue Origin, detached from the Centaur V upper stage at approximately 2:24.
Around fifteen minutes later, the Centaur’s main engine cut-off occurred. The Centaur then performed two additional burns to position Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander on the correct trajectory towards the moon. With the burns successfully completed, the lander, named Peregrine, will now embark on a journey that will span around one-and-a-half months before reaching the moon. Peregrine will take a longer route to the moon, making it necessary to execute multiple complex burns to maneuver into lower lunar orbits. It will ultimately attempt to make a self-controlled landing near a region known as Gruithuisen Domes on February 23.
The launch and subsequent journey are historic milestones for both United Launch Alliance and Astrobotic. ULA, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, is eager to see its vision for the future come to life with the Vulcan Centaur. The rocket is intended to replace the retiring Atlas V and Delta IV Heavy.
In addition, the Vulcan Centaur is designed to compete with other launch providers, such as SpaceX, by offering a larger payload fairing and adaptable configurations based on mission requirements. Customers will have the option to choose between two payload fairing sizes (51 or 70 feet long) and four standard configurations with zero, two, four, or six solid rocket boosters.
ULA has already secured several missions for the 202-foot-tall Vulcan, including 38 launches for Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellite broadband constellation. The launch company has also won over two dozen contracts with the U.S. Space Force (USSF), but must first complete one final certification launch.
Assuming everything goes according to plan, ULA hopes to complete their second certification launch, Cert-2, as soon as April. This mission will include another high-profile, high-stakes payload: Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spaceplane, which will make its way to the International Space Station. The remaining four missions on Vulcan’s schedule for this year will all be for USSF.
However, ULA and Astrobotic are not the only ones celebrating. This marks the first time that Blue Origin’s BE-4 engines have been used in flight, a triumph after nearly a decade of development. While the initial Vulcan Centaur launch will be fully expendable, the ultimate goal is to retrieve the two engines mid-air and reuse them to reduce costs.
Meanwhile, Astrobotic’s Peregrine is the first lander to fly under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, an initiative to stimulate the growth of lunar delivery services from private companies. In 2019, Astrobotic was awarded $79.5 million for this mission, an amount that was later increased to $108 million. Even if the landing on the moon is not successful, this mission will serve as a crucial proof-of-concept for NASA’s ambitious efforts to promote advanced space services from the private sector.
Developing…
