United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan rocket lifted off of Pad SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force station at 2:18:38 EST this morning, with the rocket working in near-perfect fashion as it sent the Astrobiotics Peregrine lunar lander towards the moon, and a Celestis memorial payload on its way to permanent solar orbit.

After a countdown with no apparent problems or issues, Vulcan lifted off right on time and flew off the launch pad. Blue Origin’s BE-4 engines worked as advertised, and coupled with GEM solid rocket boosters, the first stage hoisted the payload towards space flawlessly. The second stage was also up to its task, and performed two major burns on time and for their full duration.

At 3:17 am EST, Astrobiotics established communications with the Peregrine spacecraft, and now in space, Peregrine will continue on its journey to the moon and the NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services mission can begin in earnest. While Astrobiotics work is just beginning, ULA and Blue Origin can take deep satisfaction in the first mission of Vulcan being an unqualified success.

Today’s launch marks the first successful orbital launch of the methalox-powered American rocket. Chinese company LandSpace successfully orbited the payload with its Zuque-2 rocket in July of 2023. The Relativity and SpaceX attempts were test flights, with no customer payloads aboard, while Vulcan will have at least two customers with assets on the first flight of Vulcan.

Vulcan is the first rocket designed wholly by United Launch Alliance. The Delta and Atlas family of rockets were legacy designs created by Boeing and Lockheed Martin respectively prior to the founding of the company in 2006. ULA is a joint venture between the two aerospace giants, and has successfully launched more than 155 missions since its inception.

Author: Charles Boyer

NASA kid from Cocoa Beach, FL, born of Project Apollo parents and family. I’m a writer and photographer sharing the story of spaceflight from the Eastern Range here in Florida.