CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket lifted off Friday morning from Florida’s Space Coast for its final test flight needed for its certification process with the U.S. Space Force.
The launch happened at 7:25 a.m. for the Cert-2 mission from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Near the second launch attempt at 6:30 a.m., an issue was discovered and the launch was on hold. A new launch time was then set for 7:25 a.m.
United Launch Alliance says it is reviewing an issue with one of the solid rocket boosters during the launch, but they were pleased with the rocket’s performance overall.
The Federal Aviation Administration called it an “anomaly” but neither group has elaborated on what happened. No one was hurt and no property damage was reported.
“The FAA is assessing the operation and will issue an updated statement if the agency determines an investigation is warranted, a spokesman for the FAA said in a statement.
The engineering team is working through the details of the issue that caused the countdown to be automatically stopped just after the Vulcan rocket switched to internal power. We have not yet established a new launch time target.
— ULA (@ulalaunch) October 4, 2024
We are recycling the #VulcanRocket countdown to prepare for another opportunity to conduct the #Cert2 launch today. We have an available window until 9 a.m. EDT (1300 UTC) for liftoff to occur.
— ULA (@ulalaunch) October 4, 2024
“The success of Vulcan’s second certification flight heralds a new age of forward-looking technology committed to meeting the ever-growing requirements of space launch and supporting our nation’s assured access to space. We had an observation on one of our solid rocket boosters (SRB) that we are reviewing but we are overall pleased with the rocket’s performance and had a bullseye insertion,” Tory Bruno, ULA’s president and CEO, said in a release. “Vulcan provides high performance and greater affordability while continuing to deliver our unmatched reliability and orbital precision for all our customers across the national security, civil and commercial markets.”
ULA said the Cert-2 mission includes an inert payload and demonstrations associated with future Centaur V technologies and is the second of two test flights required for ULA’s certification process for national security missions with the U.S. Space Force.
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“Vulcan is built with the strength of a national workforce whose unmatched dedication and innovation has modernized the very best of our industry-leading heritage,” Mark Peller, vice president of Vulcan Development, said in a release. “The foundation of Vulcan’s purpose-built design rests on the best of what we’ve learned from more than 120 combined years of launch experience with Atlas and Delta.”
The 200-foot rocket didn’t carry a customer payload this time due to the new Sierra Space Dream Chaser spaceplane not being ready yet for its first flight to the International Space Station.
The first Vulcan Centaur rocket blasted off from Brevard County on Jan 8. NASA has called the Vulcan Centaur’s maiden mission a precursor for returning astronauts to the surface of the moon.
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