launch is targeted for at 1:49 a.m. EST
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan VC2S rocket will launch the first certification mission for ULA from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 2023.
On Friday, Cryogenic propellant loading operations took place on both the Vulcan booster stage and Centaur V upper stage to simulate a launch day and test the rocket and pad systems.
The launch is targeted for at 1:49 a.m. EST. on December 24.
The Cert-1 mission includes two payloads, the first Peregrine Lunar Lander, Peregrine Mission One (PM1) for Astrobotic as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative to deliver science and technology to the lunar surface.
The second payload is Celestis’ Memorial Spaceflights deep space Voyager mission, the Enterprise Flight.
Space Launch Complex-41, the East Coast home of the Vulcan and Atlas V rockets at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, employs a “clean pad” concept of operations to ready launch vehicles and payloads for ascent into space.
The rocket elements are assembled atop a Vulcan Launch Platform (VLP) inside the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) located adjacent to the launch pad.
The platform and fully stacked Vulcan rocket then travel by rail approximately 1,800 feet northward from the VIF to the pad for the final countdown, fueling and liftoff. Complex 41 was constructed by the U.S. Air Force in the 1960s for the Titan rocket program.
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