United Launch Alliance
After United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully conducted a second Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) two days ago (due to last Friday's fueling test not going the full duration because of ground equipment issues at Space Launch Complex 41 in Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida), the company announced this morning that the Vulcan Centaur rocket will launch Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar lander to the Moon on Monday, January 8!
Space enthusiasts (like me) were hoping that the successful WDR would allow ULA to retain the original December 24 launch date, but ULA CEO Tory Bruno commented (below) that lots of work—such as encapsulating Peregrine inside its Vulcan payload fairing, testing the electrical connections between Peregrine and Vulcan, and installing ordnance (explosive devices that are used to separate the twin solid rocket motors from the Vulcan booster as well as release the payload fairings from around Peregrine once the launch vehicle is out of Earth's atmosphere; among other tasks)—still needs to be done. Getting Vulcan Centaur ready for a launch date that's only 10 days away was pushing it.
It's all good. As long as ULA and Astrobotic continue to do a thorough job in making sure that their respective vehicles are in tip-top shape for a launch that's set for one week after New Year's Day, I'm good.
Vulcan Centaur and Peregrine will fly when they're ready to fly! Happy Thursday.
NASA / Isaac Watson
The #VulcanRocket and Centaur V booster are now venting during today's Wet Dress Rehearsal at SLC-41.https://t.co/eixLiNyhlZ#CountdownToVulcan #Cert1 pic.twitter.com/gCMdEBloVe
— Rich Par (@AstroPnoy) December 12, 2023
A couple of things to do; integrate the payload, test the P/L, test the rocket, install certain ordnance items, etc. (and I don't want to rush these). Can't quite make the December window. Next opportunity is a 4 day window starting on the 8th of Jan
— Tory Bruno (@torybruno) December 14, 2023
Following a successful WDR, the launch of ULA's first #VulcanRocket flight test and #Cert1 mission is planned for Jan. 8, 2024, pending range approval. The Vulcan VC2S rocket will launch from SLC-41 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. https://t.co/xFQoT0042V pic.twitter.com/gkHOBFF6UT
— ULA (@ulalaunch) December 14, 2023
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