A new rocket built on Atlas and Delta experience.
Vulcan Centaur is United Launch Alliance's launcher developed to renew its launch capabilities. It combines a new first stage with Centaur V, an evolution of the Centaur upper-stage family.
The first flight in January 2024 carries the Peregrine lunar lander among its payloads. Launch success describes the rocket's performance; the spacecraft is responsible for the subsequent journey.
The second certification flight in October 2024 carries an inert payload and experiments. It reaches its intended trajectory despite an observed solid-booster anomaly, which the manufacturer subsequently examines.
Selected representative missions; crew names belong to the flight shown.
The first certification flight carries Peregrine and a secondary payload, without a crew.
The second certification flight carries a demonstration payload and tests upper-stage capabilities.
Dates follow the days reported by the source agencies, generally in local time; the UTC day can differ. Crews belong to the selected missions, not every flight in the family.
Vulcan illustrates how new engines can be integrated with established industrial experience to support varied missions.
First flight or first test of the family, including unsuccessful or suborbital attempts.
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