BERLIN — All major components of the first Vulcan Centaur rocket are now arriving at the launch site as United Launch Alliance prepares for a late December launch.
ULA CEO Tori Bruno said in a call with reporters on Nov. 15 that the Centaur upper stage for that mission, which the company calls Cert-1, arrived in Cape Canaveral on Nov. 13. Stated. Workers are currently there at the facility preparing the stage before installing it on top of the Vulcan booster.
Once the two stages are integrated, ULA will perform another wet dress rehearsal, both stages will be loaded with propellant, and a countdown practice will take place. “Then we stand by and are ready to encapsulate and integrate the spacecraft,” he said.
Cert-1’s primary payload is Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander, which carries payloads for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program and several other customers. The rocket also carries a payload from Space Memorial Corporation Celestis, which will remain attached to the Centaur.
Due to Peregrine’s specific requirements, including landing site lighting conditions and continued contact with NASA’s deep space network, the launch opportunity will be divided into three split-second slots, with the first scheduled for Dec. 24 at noon ET. It was 1:49.
The two backup windows are December 25th and 26th. ULA did not reveal the times of those windows on the conference call, but in a Nov. 14 presentation on the CLPS program to the advisory committee, NASA’s Joel Kearns said the launch window was 1 p.m. Dec. 25 at approximately 3:30 a.m. ET and Dec. 26 at 2:08 a.m. ET. All three windows are scheduled to land around 3:30 a.m. ET on January 25th.
Bruno said preparations to support that launch opportunity are progressing on schedule. “We’ve actually been planning it for a few days now,” he said. “I wish you success.”
In addition to sending Peregrine to the moon, ULA will also test this upgraded version of Centaur, called Centaur 5. We test it in practice, but mostly we learn about its quirks while putting it through its paces in preparation for missions that come later. ”
If Cert-1 is successful, a second Vulcan mission, Cert-2, will be launched in the first or second quarter of 2024, Bruno said. It will carry Sierra Space’s first Dream Chaser spacecraft. Amazon’s Project Kuiper mission in 2024 will use Atlas 5, he noted, although the rest of the 2024 manifest is still being finalized.
ULA plans to increase Vulcan launch frequency to twice a month by the end of 2025 and is working to clear its launch backlog of 70 aircraft, which is “roughly evenly distributed” between government and commercial customers.
Although Bruno provided details about Vulcan’s future, he was more cautious about the company’s future.he said this Bloomberg interview in October The company, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, could be an attractive acquisition target. “If I were to buy a space business, I would look at ULA,” he said at the time. Another of his reports on November 13th by Ars Technica stated: Three companies, including Blue Origin, are shortlisted for acquisition.
“I can’t speak to, or even speculate about, the status of mergers and acquisitions,” Bruno said in a phone call regarding a possible sale of ULA. “I said ULA is in great shape after going through a transformation and having a full presence in the commercial market for many years.”