spacetoday.net: First Vulcan launch slips to January

First Vulcan launch slips to January

Posted: Sat, Dec 16, 2023, 10:57 AM ET (1557 GMT)
The first launch of ULA's Vulcan Centaur rocket is likely to slip to January. ULA CEO Tory Bruno said Sunday that the company was not able to complete a wet dress rehearsal of the rocket on the launch pad Friday because of "routine" issues with ground equipment. He said he wants to carry out a full dress rehearsal before attempting a launch, and as a result the planned Dec. 24 launch is "likely out." With a launch period that is open only through Dec. 26, he said the next launch opportunity would be Jan. 8, open for up to four days. Those launch periods are governed by the primary payload, the Peregrine lunar lander from Astrobotic.