{"id":17234,"date":"2024-01-08T21:06:43","date_gmt":"2024-01-08T13:06:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/first-vulcan-rocket-launches-commercial-moon-lander-with-a-boost-from-blue-origin\/"},"modified":"2024-01-08T21:06:43","modified_gmt":"2024-01-08T13:06:43","slug":"first-vulcan-rocket-launches-commercial-moon-lander-with-a-boost-from-blue-origin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/first-vulcan-rocket-launches-commercial-moon-lander-with-a-boost-from-blue-origin\/","title":{"rendered":"First Vulcan rocket launches commercial moon lander with a boost from Blue Origin"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full-width\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"630\" height=\"334\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/240107-vulcan3x-630x334.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-805856\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/240107-vulcan3x-630x334.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/240107-vulcan3x-1260x667.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/240107-vulcan3x-768x407.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/240107-vulcan3x-1536x814.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/240107-vulcan3x.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"wp-element-caption\">United Launch Alliance\u2019s Vulcan Centaur rocket lifts off from its Florida launch pad. (NASA via YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><em>Update: Astrobotic\u2019s Peregrine lander fell back to Earth 10 days after launch due to a <strong><em>propellant leak that ruled out a moon landing<\/em><\/strong><\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>United Launch Alliance\u2019s next-generation Vulcan Centaur rocket lifted off for the first time tonight, making use of booster engines built by Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin space venture to launch what could be the first mission to put a commercially built lander safely on the moon.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of a seemingly trouble-free countdown, the rocket rose from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 2:18 a.m. ET Monday (11:18 p.m. PT Sunday). It was the first-ever launch for the Vulcan rocket, and the first-ever use of Blue Origin\u2019s BE-4 engines. <\/p>\n<p>Two BE-4 engines, fueled by liquefied natural gas, powered the first-stage booster spaceward with an assist from two side boosters. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing excellent performance out of the BE-4\u2019s,\u201d ULA flight commentator Rob Gannon said.<\/p>\n<p>About five minutes after liftoff, Vulcan\u2019s Centaur V upper stage separated from the first-stage booster and carried Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic\u2019s Peregrine lander into orbit. Spacecraft separation took place 50 minutes after launch, sending Peregrine on the next leg of its trek to the moon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYee-haw! I am so thrilled,\u201d ULA CEO Tory Bruno said after separation. Soon after Bruno\u2019s joyful whoop, Astrobotic confirmed contact with the lander.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBig kudos and congrats to the whole team!\u201d Bezos said in an Instagram post.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram\">\n<iframe class=\"instagram-media instagram-media-rendered\" id=\"instagram-embed-0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/C11RndluVJT\/embed\/captioned\/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=987&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com&amp;rp=%2F2024%2Fastrobotic-peregrine-moon-lander-vulcan-blue-origin%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A1839.9800001643598%7D\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"952\" data-instgrm-payload-id=\"instagram-media-payload-0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"background: white; max-width: 658px; width: calc(100% - 2px); border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219); box-shadow: none; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 12px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0px;\"><\/iframe><script async=\"\" src=\"\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Peregrine lander\u2019s peregrinations<\/h3>\n<p>Peregrine is programmed to go on a roughly 45-day journey that traces looping orbits around Earth and the moon. If all goes according to plan, the 8-foot-wide lander will touch down Feb. 23 at Sinus Viscositatis, an area near a geologically intriguing set of lava hills known as the Gruithuisen Domes.<\/p>\n<p>NASA is paying Astrobotic $108 million to fly a suite of science instruments that will take stock of the radiation environment and the chemical composition around the landing site \u2014 perhaps including on-the-ground detection of water in lunar soil. <\/p>\n<p>This is the first of a series of commercial moon landing missions supported by NASA\u2019s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, or CLPS, to prepare the way for NASA\u2019s crewed Artemis missions to the lunar surface.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is a game-changing program for us,\u201d said Sandra Connelly, NASA\u2019s deputy associate administrator for science. \u201cIt really is leveraging industry in new ways.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The first Vulcan rocket launch\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/d53k2nZ3DGY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Astrobotic CEO John Thornton said tonight\u2019s launch marked the \u201cbeginning of the dawn of a new era for the surface of the moon and how we think about space.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is an opportunity for commercial payloads to fly to the surface of the moon on a regular, routine basis,\u201d he said. \u201cThat means our nation\u2019s scientists, the world\u2019s scientists, can access the moon in ways never before possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If Peregrine touches down successfully, it would mark the first soft lunar landing by a U.S.-built spacecraft since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.<\/p>\n<p>Success isn\u2019t assured, however. Back in 2019, the Israeli-built Beresheet lander was primed to become the first commercial lander on the moon, but that mission ended in a crash landing. Since then, China and India have successfully put robotic landers on the lunar surface, while Japanese and Russian attempts fell short. (Another Japanese moon probe is due to attempt a landing later this month.)<\/p>\n<p>NASA\u2019s science mission is expected to run through the 14-day stretch of sunlight at the landing site, but the solar-powered lander is likely to run out of power during the 14-day lunar night.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the NASA-funded instruments, Peregrine is carrying a wide assortment of commercial payloads \u2014 including mementos and plaques, a mini-rover, micro-robots from Mexico, miniaturized data archives that blend digital and DNA records, and sets of memorial capsules containing cremated remains. (Ashes and DNA samples will also be flown into deep space aboard Vulcan\u2019s Centaur V upper stage.) <\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Crucial test for Vulcan and its engines<\/h3>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Vulcan Cert-1 Mission Profile\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ai-AVMJdzVQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/figure>\n<p>A successful launch was arguably as critical for United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin as the mission to the moon will be for Astrobotic and NASA.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s been nearly a decade since Bezos and Bruno announced that their companies were working together on a new type of rocket engine that would power a new type of rocket. <\/p>\n<p>At the time, ULA  and Blue Origin said they were targeting 2019 for the first flight of the Vulcan rocket with BE-4 engines \u2014 but the debut was delayed by a series of technical challenges. Eventually, Vulcan rockets will be built so that the engines can be recovered from the booster and reused, but that won\u2019t be the case for the early launches.<\/p>\n<p>Each BE-4 engine provides 550,000 pounds of thrust at liftoff \u2014 which is more than twice the thrust of SpaceX\u2019s methane-fueled Merlin engines. The BE-4 engines were designed at Blue Origin\u2019s HQ in Kent, Wash., and tested at the company\u2019s facility in West Texas. Blue Origin built a $200 million factory for scaled-up production of the engines in Huntsville, Ala. \u2014 not far from where ULA builds its Vulcan rockets.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> Milestone moon lander mission targets an otherworldly frontier for DNA storage<\/p>\n<p>The Centaur V upper stage used a different brand of rocket engine: Aerojet Rocketdyne\u2019s RL10, which is made in Florida. The upper stage was also equipped with 12 MR-107 attitude-control thrusters that were built at Aerojet\u2019s facility in Redmond, Wash.<\/p>\n<p>United Launch Alliance is depending on the Vulcan Centaur rocket to fill the gap that will be left by the impending retirement of its Atlas V rocket. This is the first of two certification launches that Vulcan has to complete before it can be considered for national security space missions, which is why ULA refers to the launch as Cert-1.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Blue Origin is depending on the BE-4 to power not only ULA\u2019s Vulcan rockets, but also its own orbital-class New Glenn rocket. New Glenn\u2019s first flight is currently scheduled for later this year.<\/p>\n<p>Vulcan\u2019s success is likely to boost confidence that ULA and Blue Origin will be able to follow through on their launch schedules \u2014 which feature the first launch of Sierra Space\u2019s Dream Chaser cargo shuttle on Vulcan, and a pair of robotic Mars probes on New Glenn.<\/p>\n<p>Amazon will no doubt breathe easier as well. The company has reserved 38 Vulcan launches with ULA and 12 New Glenn launches with Blue Origin to put thousands of satellites into low Earth orbit for its Project Kuiper broadband network. None of those launches can lift off without the BE-4.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>United Launch Alliance\u2019s Vulcan Centaur rocket lifts off from its Florida launch pad. (NASA via YouTube) Update: Astrobotic\u2019s Peregrine lander fell back to Earth 10 days after launch due to a propellant leak that ruled out a moon landing. United Launch Alliance\u2019s next-generation Vulcan Centaur rocket lifted off for the first time tonight, making use [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[697,4459,509,2043,625,750,4518],"class_list":["post-17234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-astrobotic","tag-be-4-rocket-engine","tag-blue-origin","tag-lunar-lander","tag-moon","tag-united-launch-alliance","tag-vulcan-rocket"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17234"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17234\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}