United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, is gearing up for the maiden launch of its Vulcan Centaur rocket. Named Cert-1, this mission will launch from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and carry Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar lander as its main payload.

The Peregrine lunar lander plans to journey to the moon over one and a half months, with a lunar surface landing expected on February 23. This mission will be the first of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program and also the first to use Blue Origin’s BE-4 rocket engines.

Cert-1 will also carry over 15 NASA and non-NASA payloads and will offer ULA an opportunity to validate future mission objectives. According to ULA, the Cert-2 mission could launch as early as April, pending the readiness of Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spaceplane.