After a decade of development and testing, United Launch Alliance (ULA) launched the inaugural mission for its Vulcan rocket. The first of two certification flights for this rocket sported a pair of methane/liquid oxygen-fueled BE-4 engines from Blue Origin. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex-41 (SLC-41) took place on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024, at 2:18 a.m. EST (0718 UTC) at the start of a 45-minute launch window.

The bright blue of the plume was a marked departure from the orange/yellow glow of ULA's heritage rockets, the Atlas V and Delta IV Heavy. ULA President and CEO Tory Bruno remarked after the launch that the countdown was virtually seamless and the Centaur V upper stage placed the Astrobotic Peregrine lunar lander into the correct trans-lunar orbit.

Video credits:
Shot by: Adam Bernstein
Michael Cain
Pete Carstens
Edited by: Will Robinson-Smith

Additional video courtesy United Launch Alliance.

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