INAUGURAL LAUNCH OF ULA’S VULCAN ROCKET (CERT-1) WITH ASTROBOTIC’S PEREGRINE LUNAR LANDER, Jan 8, 2024, CCSFS, 2:18 am ET (NASA TV begins 1:30 am ET)

Update, December 28:  NASA will hold two pre-launch briefings on January 4 and January 5 to discuss the NASA payloads on Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander.  NASA will provide live launch coverage beginning at 1:30 am ET on January 8.

Update, December 19:  Astrobotic says that if the launch is on January 8, the Peregrine lunar lander will arrive on the lunar surface on February 23.

Check out our Peregrine lunar lander nestled into the payload fairing in @ulalaunch‘s #VulcanRocket! ? She’s fueled. She’s ready for her journey to the Moon: targeting a launch on January 8, 2024 and a lunar landing on February 23, 2024! ?https://t.co/esT3hnayXy

— Astrobotic (@astrobotic) December 19, 2023

Update, December 14:  The launch has been delayed to January 8, 2024 because the first Wet Dress Rehearsal on December 8 was not completed due to ground equipment problems. A second WDR went “great” on December 12, however.  January 8 is the opening of the next launch window for sending Peregine to its targeted location on the Moon. ULA’s Tory Bruno posted on X that the window this time is 4 days long instead of 3 as in December.  The window opens at approximately 2:18 am ET on January 8 pending Collision Avoidance (COLA) updates to ensure the rocket does not collide with objects in Earth orbit.

Looks like around 0218 local, pending COLA updates

— Tory Bruno (@torybruno) December 14, 2023

It went great. The critical events we wanted to demonstrate happened nominally and on the timeline. #VulcanRocket is now in the pipe for its first launch (CERT1) at the next lunar window on 8 January. https://t.co/8MjWKgRJgf

— Tory Bruno (@torybruno) December 14, 2023

The team is on console and vehicle preparations are underway for today’s WDR. #VulcanRocket

— Tory Bruno (@torybruno) December 12, 2023

#VulcanRocket rolled back to the pad. Ground side leaks that interfered with completing Friday’s WDR were fixed over the weekend. Next WDR tomorrow.

— Tory Bruno (@torybruno) December 11, 2023

Looking like 4 days

— Tory Bruno (@torybruno) December 10, 2023

#VulcanRocket WDR update: Vehicle performed well. Ground system had a couple of (routine) issues, (being corrected). Ran the timeline long so we didn’t quite finish. I’d like a FULL WDR before our first flight, so XMAS eve is likely out. Next Peregrine window is 8 Jan.

— Tory Bruno (@torybruno) December 10, 2023

Update, November 15: ULA President and CEO Tory Bruno said during a media telecon today that the launch time on December 24 is 1:49 am ET.  It is an instantaneous launch window, so either it launches then or has to wait until the next day.

The launch can only take place when Earth and the Moon are properly aligned for Peregrine to arrive at its intended landing point during the correct lighting conditions. In December, it only can launch on the 24th, 25th or 26th.

A November 14 presentation by NASA’s Joel Kearns to the Planetary Science Advisory Committee included a slide with the following launch dates/times in UTC:

• Dec. 24, 6:49 am UTC [1:49 am EST]
• Dec. 25, 6:53 am UTC [1:53 am EST]
• Dec. 26, 7:08 am UTC [2:08 am EST]

Original Entry: The United Launch Alliance (ULA) has announced December 24, 2023 as the date for the first launch of its Vulcan rocket. The launch time was not provided.

The launch was originally planned for May 2023, but delayed because of technical problems with the upper stage.

This is the first of two “certification” launches to demonstrate Vulcan’s reliabilty to launch the most expensive national security satellites and is designated Cert-1.

Cert-1 will send Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander to the Moon. The destination dictates the launch date since the Earth and Moon need to be properly aligned for Peregrine to land at the appropriate spot on the Moon in daylight (a day on the Moon is 14 Earth days long).

In an October 24, 2023 interview with CNBC, ULA President and CEO Tory Bruno announced the December 24 date and said backup opportunities are on December 25 and 26.  The next opportunity will be in January 2024.