Vulcan-Centaur to launch on Monday!

United Launch Alliance recently, on the 5th of January, rolled its Vulcan-Centaur launch vehicle to its launch pad in Florida fully stacked for the first time. Vulcan-Centaur is currently expected to lift off from Space Launch Complex 41, in Cape Canaveral, on the 8th of January no earlier than 07:18 am Coordinated Universal Time for the Cert-1 mission.

It was also reported by Spaceflight Now that there are four launch windows available for the mission. The first is a forty-five minute window on the 8th of January starting at 07:18 am Coordinated Universal Time. The second window is a nine minute window on the 9th starting at 05:15 am Coordinated Universal Time. The next is a one minute window on the 10th starting at 5:12 am Coordinated Universal Time. The final known window is a three minute window starting at 05:40 am Coordinated Universal Time.

The configuration of Vulcan-Centaur being used for the Cert-1 mission is the VC2S configuration. The VC2S configuration is the Vulcan-Centaur launch vehicle augmented with two GEM-63XL solid rocket boosters.

The primary payload of the first flight of Vulcan-Centaur is Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar lander for its first lunar mission. Peregrine is a lander and part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. If all goes well during launch the Peregrine lander will be headed towards the Moon for an eventual landing.

Peregrine is Astrobotic's lunar lander designed to carry between 70 and 100 kilograms to the lunar surface while operating for at least eight days. Peregrine will land using five engines burning mono-methyl-hydrazine and dinitrogen tetroxide to generate 0.34 tons of thrust.

What's on Peregrine?

Disclaimer: The payloads descriptions and missions are as described in Astrobotic's pre-launch press release before its first mission to the Moon.

NIRVSS, Near-Infrared Volatile Spectrometer System, will measure surface and subsurface hydration, carbon dioxide, and methane while also mapping surface temperature and changes at the landing site. It was developed at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California.

NSS, Neutron Spectrometer System, will search for indicators of water ice near the lunar surface by measuring how much hydrogen-bearing materials are at the landing site and determining the bulk composition of the regolith there. It was also developed at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California.

PITMS, Peregrine Ion-Trap Mass Spectrometer, will characterize the lunar exosphere after descent and landing and throughout the lunar day to understand the release and movement of volatiles. The instrument is a partnership between NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, The Open University, NASA, and the European Space Agency.

NASA's LETS, Linear Energy Transfer Spectrometer, radiation sensor will collect information about the lunar radiation environment and relies on flight-proven hardware that flew on the Orion spacecraft’s inaugural uncrewed flight in 2014. The instrument was developed by NASA's Johnson Space Center.

LRA, Laser Retroreflector Array, is a collection of 1.25-centimeter retroreflectors mounted to the lander. This mirror reflects laser light from other orbiting and landing spacecraft to precisely determine the lander’s position. It was developed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

NDL, Navigation Doppler Lidar, will determine the Peregrine spacecraft’s exact
velocity and position to land on the Moon using LiDAR, light detection and ranging. The instrument was developed by NASA's Langley Research Center.

LINX-UNAM will fly the first Latin American scientific instrument to the surface of the Moon. Consisting of 5 small rovers each weighing roughly 60 grams and measuring 12 centimeters across, the miniature rovers will demonstrate autonomous and coordinated exploration of the lunar surface.

Astrobotic will demonstrate its standalone TRN, Terrain Relative Navigation, sensor as a payload on its first mission to the Moon. TRN will enable spacecraft to perform landings on planetary surfaces with an unparalleled accuracy of less than 100 meters. The TRN sensor is being developed under NASA's Tipping Point contract.

Astroscale will send the Pocari Sweat Lunar Dream time capsule to the Moon, which contains 185,872 messages from children from around the world.

Carnegie Mellon University, CMU, students, staff, and professors collaborate with Astrobotic to develop space robotics technology. Carnegie Mellon University is currently developing the Iris rover for Astrobotic’s inaugural lunar mission.

The MoonArk, is a collaborative space project at Carnegie Mellon University, embodying the arts, humanities, sciences, and technologies in a set of intricately designed objects intended to spark wonderment and discovery for future generations.

Celestis will fly a memorial spaceflight mission. Celestis is the first company to have successfully conducted memorial spaceflight missions, the only company to have been selected by NASA to honor one of its scientists, and for more than two decades an iconic pioneer and global leader of the commercial space age.

Astrobotic reportedly accepted small personal mementos for inclusion on Peregrine Mission One. 'Moon Capsules' containing payloads from around the world will be stored aboard Peregrine on the Moon for centuries to come.

Elysium Space is reportedly providing lunar memorial services to deliver a symbolic portion of remains to the surface of the Moon.

The German Aerospace Center, or DLR, is flying the M-42 radiation detector scientific experiment. The sensors will precisely measure the level of radiation a human body will encounter on a trip to the Moon and back.

Lunar Mission One will send the first digital storage payloads to the Moon. The payload will support Lunar Mission One’s 'Footsteps on the Moon' campaign.

Puli Space Technologies will send a unique plaque for the 'Memory of Mankind on the Moon' project. The plaque contains archival imagery and texts readable with a 10x magnifier.

What is the Vulcan-Centaur rocket?

Vulcan-Centaur, sometimes just called Vulcan, is United Launch Alliance's in-development two-stage rocket. Vulcan is planned to replace the company's Atlas V and Delta IV Heavy launch vehicles in the coming decade.

The first-stage is powered by two BE-4 engines generating 500 tons of thrust burning liquid methane and liquid oxygen for four minutes and fifty-nine seconds. Blue Origin manufactures the BE-4 engines for use with United Launch Alliance as well as Blue Origin's upcoming New Glenn rocket.

The second-stage is powered by two RL-10 engines generating 22 tons of thrust burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for a currently undisclosed amount of time. Aerojet Rocketdyne manufactures the RL-10 engines for use with United Launch Alliance.

Vulcan-Centaur can also launch with either zero, two, four, or six GEM-63XL solid rocket motors to augment the rockets thrust and capabilities. Each booster burns a solid propellant, consisting of Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene and Aluminum-Ammonium perchlorate, generating 224 tons of thrust each for a believed one minute and fifty seconds. The solid rocket boosters are manufactured by Northrop Grumman for use with United Launch Alliance.

In the table below, United Launch Alliance claims Vulcan can deliver the following amount of payload in its four potential configurations.

The naming scheme of each Vulcan-Centaur configuration is as follows: V stands for Vulcan, C stands for Centaur, 0/2/4/6 stands for the amount of solid rocket motors, and S/L stands for the payload fairing length. For example, Dream Chaser would use the VC4L configuration and Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar lander would use the VC2S configuration.

Who is United Launch Alliance?

United Launch Alliance is an American aerospace company founded in December of 2006 as a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing. The company currently operates the Delta IV Heavy and Atlas V launch vehicles.

United Launch Alliance is currently developing the Vulcan-Centaur rocket with an expected maiden flight in January of 2024.

Who is Astrobotic?

Astrobotic is a worker-owned space company that develops advanced navigation, operation, power, testing, and computing systems for spacecraft. Astrobotic was founded in 2007 and has headquarters in both Mojave, California, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.