CERT-2

ULA Vulcan CERT-2 on the launch mount at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral on October 3, 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

United Launch Alliance is planning to launch its second Vulcan rocket early tomorrow morning from Space Launch Complex 41. Liftoff is currently scheduled for 06:00 AM EDT, with a launch window that extends to 09:00 AM EDT the same day.

The launch is planned for about 75 minutes before sunrise, and if liftoff occurs before the sun peeks over the horizon, the expanding gases of the second stage may produce a spectacular display.

At A Glance

  • Mission: Cert-2
  • Date: NET October 4, 2024
  • Launch Window: 06:00 – 09:00 AM EDT
  • Weather: 80% Go during the primary launch window
  • Organization: United Launch Alliance (ULA)
  • Rocket: Vulcan (VCS2)
  • Trajectory: Easterward
  • Launch Site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
  • Booster Landing: none
  • Payload: Scientific instruments and an inert payload
  • Destination: Heliocentric orbit

    * consult the ULA website for the specific target for T-0.

Launch Readiness Review Completed

ULA announced yesterday the mission has been cleared to proceed.

According to the company, “The LRR, led by ULA Launch Director Eric Richards, was completed this morning at the Advanced Spaceflight Operations Center (ASOC).”

“Leadership from ULA and the Space Force assessed the readiness of the rocket, payload and mission assets, discussed the status of pre-flight processing work, heard technical overviews of the countdown and flight, and previewed the weather forecast that projects a 75 percent chance of meeting the launch rules.”

“At the conclusion of the meeting, senior leaders were polled and gave a ready status for launch, then signed the Launch Readiness Certificate.”

ULA Vulcan CERT-2 on the launch mount at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral on October 3, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
ULA Vulcan CERT-2 on the launch mount at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral on October 3, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

Weather

The 45th Weather Squadron has listed a 20% Probability of Violation for tomorrow’s launch, which means that the weather is expected to be 80% GO at launch time.

Payload

In this case, the mission is the payload.

CERT-2 is designed to be the second and final demonstration flight of Vulcan. The key objective for CERT-2 is to validate the performance of the Vulcan rocket and to demonstrate to the Department of Defense that the Vulcan flight system is ready for national defense and surveillance payloads.

ULA Vulcan CERT-2 on the launch mount at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral on October 3, 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

Aside from the flight characteristics and performance of the Blue Origin BE-4 booster, ULA will also gauge the performance of its Centaur V upper stage. The stage was redesigned for Vulcan and proving its abilities and reliability is also a critical piece of the certification process.

CERT-2 was originally scheduled to carry the Sierra Space Dream Chaser ‘Tenacity’ on its maiden flight, but ULA was forced to switch to an inert payload for CERT-2 due to Dream Chaser not being ready for flight. Dream Chaser is currently scheduled to fly sometime in 2025, but no launch date has been announced. Currently, the spacecraft is at Kennedy Space Center undergoing flight preparations.

Trajectory

Eastwards, relatively speaking. Vulcan is destined for a heliocentric orbit around the sun, so it will take a path that lines up with the equator.

Online Viewing

SpaceCoastLaunchCalendar.com will have a livestream of the launch if you’re not able to watch the launch in person: Livestream

ULA will have a livestream of the launch on their website: ULA Cert-2 Mission Page. This will also be available on the Youtube platform. Coverage will start about about twenty minutes prior to liftoff.

Spaceflight Now will have coverage of the launch starting about one hour before liftoff on Youtube: link

For official updates regarding launch times, ULA’s Cert-2 Mission Page is the best source of information. Starlink launch times change from time to time, and the company generally updates their website within minutes of the decision to change the launch time. This is very handy if none of the streaming options on YouTube have started their broadcasts.

Remember that there is a delay between a launch stream and the actual countdown clock. That is simply because of physics: it takes time for the signal to travel from the launch site, through the Internet, and back down to your phone, resulting in a five to fifteen-second delay.

Next Space Flight an app for iOS and Android phones, has a real-time countdown clock that is accurate to a second, give or take. The app is free. Search the App Store or Google Play. They are also on the web: nextspaceflight.com.

Launch Viewing: In Person

Given that this is a launch from Cape Canaveral’s SLC-41, Jetty Park, The Banana River Bridge and southern Titusville Parks are your best bets.

Cocoa Beach and the northern Titusville parks will have an excellent view as well.

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Teams process Dream Chaser Tenacity, Sierra Space’s uncrewed cargo spaceplane, inside the Space Systems Processing Facility (SSPF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, May 20, 2024, following its arrival from the agency’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Ohio. Dream Chaser Tenacity will undergo final testing and prelaunch processing inside the high bay of the SSPF ahead of its inaugural launch atop a ULA (United Launch Alliance) Vulcan rocket from nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The reusable transportation system is contracted to perform a minimum of seven cargo missions to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s efforts to expand commercial resupply services to low Earth orbit.

In an announcement today, United Launch Alliance stated that Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser is off of the second flight of ULA’s Vulcan rocket.

Statement from United Launch Alliance, June 26, 2024

On the X platform today, ULA said “We have been working closely with our current VulcanRocket Cert2 customer, Sierra Space, and while ULA will be ready to fly, Sierra Space has shared that they are making excellent progress with Dream Chaser but have schedule risk to fly by that time.”

They added, “Based on this delay and urgent national security needs, we are prioritizing the Cert2 mission to enable certification to launch our first National Security Space mission.

“We plan to fly an inert payload, experiments, and demonstrations the #Cert2 mission.

“We are working with Sierra Space to identify the next available launch date.”

ULA concluded that they are “[A]ware of the heightened threat environment the nation is facing in space and takes seriously the critical responsibility of launching essential National Security Space satellite assets to orbit promptly.”

For their part, at the time of this writing, Sierra Space has made no statement regarding the matter.

The move, however, makes a lot of sense for all parties: ULA needs to fly Vulcan a second time successfully to achieve certification from the Department of Defense to fly national security payloads aboard Vulcan. That in turn would allow ULA to fulfill its contracted obligations and to get its backlogged manifest of DoD launches in process.

ULA has received the booster for Vulcan CERT-2, and it is being processed at the company’s facilities in Florida, but it has yet to announce a target launch date for the vehicle.

Vulcan CERT-1 lifts off on January 8, 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

For Sierra Space, the move relieves schedule pressure to some degree and allows them time to focus on ensuring that no stones are left unturned in the lead-up to Dream Chaser’s maiden spaceflight. Given that the Tenacity spacecraft that will fly the mission is also planned to be re-used, its critical for Sierra to have a successful launch and landing of the spacecraft.

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