Science News Roundup: New Vulcan rocket sends privately-built Moon lander to space; India ISRO's Aditya-L1 solar mission reaches destination and more

Space robotics firm Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar lander launched at 2:18 a.m. EST from Cape Canaveral, Florida on the first flight of Vulcan, a powerful rocket that had been under development for a decade by the Boeing-Lockheed venture United Launch Alliance (ULA).

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Vulcan rocket's space debut will be crucial for Boeing-Lockheed venture as sale talks loom

A lot is riding on the first launch of the new Vulcan rocket by the United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin. A successful launch at Cape Canaveral next week would allow ULA to fulfill a deep backlog of missions worth hundreds of millions of dollars and establish a greater competitive footing with Elon Musk's SpaceX.

India ISRO's Aditya-L1 solar mission reaches destination

The Indian Space Research Organisation's inaugural solar mission, Aditya-L1, has reached its destination within the anticipated four-month timeframe, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday. Launched on Sept. 2, the spacecraft positioned itself at Lagrange Point 1, from where it will undertake a comprehensive study of the sun, focusing on the solar corona and its influence on space weather.

New Vulcan rocket sends privately-built Moon lander to space

A robotic lander built by a private company was bound for the moon on Monday in an attempt to make the first U.S. lunar soft landing in more than half a century, after launching into space aboard a new Vulcan rocket debuted by a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Space robotics firm Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar lander launched at 2:18 a.m. EST from Cape Canaveral, Florida on the first flight of Vulcan, a powerful rocket that had been under development for a decade by the Boeing-Lockheed venture United Launch Alliance (ULA).