WASHINGTON — The primary launch of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur is prone to be delayed to early January to provide the corporate time to finish a full dress rehearsal.
In a social media post Dec. 10, Tory Bruno, chief executive of ULA, said the corporate was not in a position to complete a practice countdown called a wet dress rehearsal (WDR) two days earlier at Cape Canaveral. Through the WDR, the Vulcan booster and its Centaur upper stage were loaded with propellants and went through a countdown that might stop just before engine ignition.
Bruno said that while the vehicle performed well during that countdown, there have been some “routine” issues with ground equipment. “Ran the timeline long so we didn’t quite finish,” he said. “I’d like a FULL WDR before our first flight, so XMAS eve is probably going out.”
ULA has been working towards a launch Dec. 24 at 1:49 a.m. Eastern. That timing was driven by the vehicle’s primary payload, the Peregrine lunar lander construct by Astrobotic. There have been additional launch windows on Dec. 25 and 26 that, like Dec. 24, were instantaneous launch opportunities.
Bruno said that the subsequent launch period would open Jan. 8 that might even be within the overnight hours. That period will probably be 4 days long, he stated on social media. Neither ULA nor Astrobotic has previously disclosed a particular date for the subsequent launch opportunity if the launch didn’t happen in December.
There had been speculation that the launch may be postponed given the shortage of updates from ULA through the test itself or afterwards. Astrobotic, assuming the launch remained on schedule, began a series of social media posts in regards to the payloads on the Peregrine lander Dec. 10 “with T-14 days until launch.”
ULA had not reported any issues with Vulcan launch preparations before the wet dress rehearsal. Bruno, in a call with reporters Nov. 15, said the corporate was on the time a pair days ahead of schedule in launch preparations.
In a Nov. 29 NASA media call in regards to the science on Peregrine, John Thornton, chief executive of Astrobotic, said the corporate had accepted the risks of launching on the inaugural flight of a brand new rocket.
“We’re attempting a launch and landing on the surface of the moon for a fraction of what it might otherwise cost. With that, we’ve to strike the suitable balance of risk and reward,” he said. “We did take some risk on the launch going with a brand new vehicle, but we’re comforted with the proven fact that it’s United Launch Alliance they usually have a extremely stellar track record of success.”
“We’re very confident on that launch, but I can inform you I’ll be on the sting of my seat on that launch,” he added.
The revised schedule means there might be two launches of lunar landers from Cape Canaveral throughout the same week. Intuitive Machines is preparing for a Jan. 12 launch of IM-1, its first Nova-C lunar lander, on a SpaceX Falcon 9. The corporate said Dec. 4 that the lander had arrived at a processing facility at Cape Canaveral.