ULA Launches 1st Vulcan, but Astrobotic Lunar Payload Fails

United Launch Alliance successfully launched its first Vulcan rocket Monday from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. However, one of the two payloads on the flight, Astrobotic's first Peregrine Lunar Lander, suffered a propulsion system failure, the company said in a series of postings on X. As a result, ULA said it was prioritizing capturing as much science and data as possible. ULA said it has sold more than 70 Vulcan launches, including 38 for placing Amazon's Kuiper broadband satellites into space (see 2204050003).