The new rocket, United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur, lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41d at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Jan. 8, 2024, for its maiden voyage, carrying the Peregrine lunar landing by Astrobotic.
Chandan Khanna | AFP | fake images
A new American rocket reached orbit on Monday morning and the launch was big, not only because of the scale of the vehicle, but also because of its importance to a market that has become dominated by a single player in recent years.
United Launch Alliance, or ULA, successfully launched its long-awaited inaugural Vulcan rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The 202-foot-tall rocket successfully deployed its primary payload, the Peregrine lunar lander, for Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic about an hour later.
Astrobotic's Peregrine is headed to the Moon, where it will attempt to land on February 23, potentially becoming the first American spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon since Apollo 17 more than 50 years ago.
Under a NASA-funded program known as the Commercial Lunar Cargo Services initiative, Astrobotic's mission represents one of six lunar lander launches from three different companies scheduled for this year.
Taking on SpaceX
United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur rocket is transported to the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on January 5, 2024.
Chandan Khanna | AFP | fake images
United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41d at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Jan. 8, 2024, for its maiden voyage, carrying the Peregrine lunar lander. Astrobotic.
Gregg Newton | AFP | fake images
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