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United Launch Alliance's (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Monday (Jan. 8) at 2:18 a.m. EST (0718 GMT).
The launch — the first ever for the powerful Vulcan Centaur — sent Astrobotic's private Peregrine moon lander toward Earth's nearest neighbor, where it is expected to land on Feb. 23. Success in that effort would be historic: No private spacecraft has ever touched down softly on the lunar surface.
Here we take a look at some of the first photos from this stunning nighttime launch.
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Across the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, spectators and photographers appeared thrilled to have witnessed the first flight of Vulcan Centaur.
Two BE-4 methane engines from Blue Origin and two GEM 63XL solid rocket boosters from Northrop Grumman power the first United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket toward space pic.twitter.com/Fhz3Is6v0UJanuary 8, 2024
Go Vulcan! Go Peregrine! A beautiful first launch. #Cert1 pic.twitter.com/tFvXoq7nBcJanuary 8, 2024
The thin clouds gave some dramatic night long exposure shots of the first #VulcanRocket 🚀 flight. #Cert1 pic.twitter.com/DTdAlPBcPjJanuary 8, 2024
😋 Mmmm... rocket engines. 🚀 #VulcanRocket📷: me for @SuperclusterHQ pic.twitter.com/0JucrCtt2UJanuary 8, 2024
Inaugural #VulcanRocket 🚀 flight, #Cert1. Turn up the volume for that good engine rumble. And I always love the reflection off Banana Creek. pic.twitter.com/WhSipeuAE2January 8, 2024
Vulcan Centaur could fly again relatively soon. The rocket's next mission, which will send Sierra Space's Dream Chaser space plane toward the International Space Station on a robotic cargo mission, may lift off as early as April.
ULA has four other missions on Vulcan Centaur's manifest after that in 2024 as well, for a total of six potential flights this year.