Vulcan Centaur maiden flight

Peregrine Mission One was Astrobotic's first lunar lander, carrying science payloads under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program and targeting the Gruithuisen Domes region of the Moon. Shortly after separation from Vulcan, a faulty pressure control valve caused an uncontrolled propellant leak that ruled out reaching the Moon; Astrobotic redirected the spacecraft to burn up over the South Pacific on January 18, 2024. The Centaur V upper stage, carrying Celestis memorial capsules with cremated remains including those of Gene Roddenberry, Nichelle Nichols, and James Doohan, was sent into a permanent heliocentric orbit.

Maiden flight of Vulcan Centaur in the VC2S configuration. Vulcan was the first methane-fueled rocket to reach orbit on its maiden flight and the first methane-fueled orbital rocket to launch from US soil.