Jan. 8 (UPI) — United Launch Alliance launched its first-ever Vulcan Centaur rocket early Monday from Florida, with the aim of returning the United States to the moon for the first time in five decades.
The rocket launched at 2:18 a.m. EST within the 45-minute launch window from Florida’s famous Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Aboard for the inaugural flight is Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic’s Peregrine Mission One lunar lander, which separated from the rocket a little after 50 minutes into the flight for its final destination of the moon.
It is expected to make an attempt to land on the moon Feb. 23, and when it touches down on the Earth’s orbital, it will be the first U.S. lunar landing since the final 1972 flight of the Apollo program.
“This mission really marks the beginning of a historic time,” Alivia Chapla, director of marketing and communications at Astrobotic, said during the launch’s live broadcast.
LIFTOFF of United Launch Alliance’s inaugural #VulcanRocket, America’s new rocket that will unlock limitless possibilities in space. And the vehicle has cleared the tower! pic.twitter.com/H77yGt1QeY— ULA (@ulalaunch) January 8, 2024
The lunar lander will be bringing 20 payloads with it to the moon’s surface, including five for NASA. Another five were originally planned but were reallocated for future missions, according to the U.S. federal agency.
Among NASA’s scientific payloads is the Laser Retro-Reflector Array, the Linear Energy Transfer Spectrometer and the Near-Infrared Volatile Spectrometer System.
Six nations have payloads on the Peregrine commercial lunar lander, Astrobotic said. The lunar is also transporting human remains and the DNA of 66 people. According to NASA, the lander has a nearly 200-pound payload capacity.
The launch is also the first of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services Initiative, known as CLPS, which has the federal space agency contracting U.S. companies to deliver science and technology to the moon.
NASA says the companies permit it to conduct further exploration of the moon as it prepares to send the first woman and first person of color to its surface under its Artemis program.
“We wanted to tap into the new ideas, the entrepreneurial spirit and all the engineering innovation that these small companies and startup companies bring in the United States,” Joel Kearns, associate administrator for exploration in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said during the live broadcast.
“We think they can help make the overall moon effort much better.”
Weather was 85% favorable for the launch.
