ULA gives update ahead of maiden flight of Vulcan Centaur rocket

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — United Launch Alliance and Aerojet Rocketdyne celebrated a milestone this week just ahead of a planned Christmas Eve launch.

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Teams are now just days away from an important dress rehearsal.

At Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, ULA and Aerojet Rocketdyne showed off a mockup of the little engine that could, during a 60th anniversary celebration of the RL 10 rocket engine and Centaur.

Watch: ULA begins final preparations for inaugural launch of new Vulcan Centaur rocket

A pair of RL 10 engines will also power the Centaur V upper stage during the planned Christmas Eve maiden flight of ULA’s Vulcan Centaur rocket.

“We’re gonna do everything we do on launch day, take it all the way down to the terminal count,” said Ron Fortson, ULA director and general manager of launch operations. “And just before we launch it, so we go through all that process, loading all the tanks, checking all the power systems, making sure everything is working, and then we do everything except fire the engines. And once we do that, we’ll be confident we’re ready to fly.”

Watch: ULA rocket’s debut launch delayed again due to large explosion

The upcoming, CERT-1 mission is the first of two flight tests required for ULA’s certification process with the U.S. Space Force.

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