For the first time, ULA rolled out the latest Vulcan Centaur rocket to the launch pad, which will replace Delta IV and Atlas V with Russian engines.

ULA will make the first launch of its newest Vulcan Centaur rocket this year. It has already been rolled out to the starting line

spaceport site at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

What is known

The launch is scheduled for May 4, 2023.The rocket was rolled out of the hangar not for the sake of beauty, but to conduct a test refueling. In a few days, Vulcan Centaur will again go to the hangar, where the company's specialists will conduct a series of tests and complete the assembly.

The missile does not yet have a payload, but mayput into orbit a cargo weighing 27.2 tons. It was fueled with liquefied natural gas and liquid oxygen. In addition, ULA checked how the ground infrastructure of the launch complex #41 is ready for the May launch.

Vulcan Centaur, if successful, will be a replacementfor two rockets at once: Atlas V and Delta IV. Both are equipped with Russian RD-180 engines. The first stage of the ULA rocket is powered by two BE-4 engines. They are designed by Blue Origin but have never flown before.