ULA's second-ever Vulcan rocket launch could occur Oct. 4 from Cape Canaveral

United Launch Alliance is targeting the second-ever launch of its next-generation Vulcan rocket for no earlier than Oct. 4 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

ULA's first red-and-white Vulcan lifted off Jan. 8 from the company's pad at Launch Complex 41. Deemed a success by company officials, that marked the new rocket's first certification flight to carry Space Force national security payloads on future missions.

The upcoming Oct. 4 flight — labeled Cert-2 — will be Vulcan's second certification flight. No launch time has been announced yet.

" Vulcan continues the legacy of Atlas as the world’s only high energy architecture rocket and ushers in a new, innovative capability to meet the ever-growing requirements of space launch," ULA's launch announcement said.

January story: ULA Vulcan rocket launches without delay on history-making maiden flight from Cape Canaveral

Vulcan is intended to replace ULA’s Atlas V rocket and hulking, triple-core Delta IV Heavy rocket. The latter notched its 16th and final mission in April , sending a National Reconnaissance Office secretive payload into orbit

January's first Vulcan launch lifted Astrobotic's ill-fated Peregrine moon lander into orbit following stage separation. But the four-legged lander's propulsion system soon suffered "a critical loss of propellant" — and its mission got scrubbed. The spacecraft burned up re-entering Earth's atmosphere over the South Pacific Ocean.

ULA officials initially targeted April for the Vulcan second certification flight, but the mission slipped back on the range calendar.

For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space .

Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at Rneale@floridatoday.com . Twitter/X: @RickNeale1

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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: ULA's second-ever Vulcan rocket launch could occur Oct. 4 from Cape Canaveral