Hi, friends. It’s your Space Coast correspondent James Sparvero right back with you after reporting from the spectacular launch Saturday of Crew-9.
Things aren’t slowing down at the Cape this week. Well, Falcon 9 launches are for the time being, but I’m talking about another rocket launch that we’re about to watch blast off.
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It will be just the second launch of United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan Centaur, which could happen as soon as 6 a.m. on Friday. Right now, ULA reports it’s preparing to roll the rocket to the launch pad!
We first saw ULA’s replacement for its Atlas and Delta rockets on its maiden flight in January as Vulcan carried ULA into a new era in the competitive commercial space marketplace. Now, in order to be certified for national security missions for the Space Force, it needs one more successful launch Friday.
The 200-foot rocket won’t be carrying 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.
Instead, and without specifying, President Tory Bruno says Vulcan will be carrying experiments that will help ULA prepare for future Vulcan flights.
Hope you’re looking forward to it as much as I am. Until then, have a great week!
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👋 Here’s a little bit more about me.
Little did I know when watching Apollo 13 in the third grade that 20 years later, I was destined for a thrilling career as your Space Coast multimedia journalist.
Chemistry and biology weren’t so interesting to me in high school science, but I loved my Earth and Space class (Thanks, Mr. Lang).
Then in 2016, I traded Capitol correspondent in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for space correspondent. I’m proud that my first live report at News 6 happened to be the first time SpaceX landed a Falcon 9 booster on a barge. What seems so routine now was a really big deal that day in our newsroom!
From there, I’ve covered the Commercial Crew program and the return of human spaceflight to Kennedy Space Center (Demo-2 launched on my 33rd birthday!)
Now, as our coverage looks forward to missions to the moon and Mars, I often tell others I have the best job in local news. Because after all I’ve seen so far, I think I would be bored working somewhere else. I even bought a house near the Cape with a great view to the north so I never miss a launch even when I’m not working.
After eight years on the beat, though, I still consider myself a young space reporter and I always look forward to learning something new with every assignment.
Have a great launch into the rest of your week!