ULA's Vulcan rocket launches as the newest challenger to SpaceX

A new U.S. rocket reached orbit early Monday, and the launch was a big one – not just in scale of the vehicle, but also in significance for a market that’s become dominated by a single player in recent years.

United Launch Alliance, or ULA, successfully launched its long-awaited inaugural Vulcan rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral. The 202-foot-tall rocket successfully deployed its main payload, the Peregrine lunar cargo lander for Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic, about an hour later.

Astrobotic’s Peregrine is bound for the moon, where it will attempt a landing on Feb. 23 – potentially becoming the first American spacecraft to soft-land on the moon since Apollo 17 more than 50 years ago.

Under a NASA-funded program known as the Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, Astrobotic’s mission represents one of six lunar launches of landers from three different companies slated for this year.

Finally, Vulcan’s first launch may also be key in discussions reportedly underway to sell the rocket company.

ULA is a joint venture, equally owned by Boeing and Lockheed Martin, created in a 2006 merger of the companies’ rocket businesses.

Blue Origin, private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management and industrials conglomerate Textron have each expressed interest in buying ULA, according to a WSJ report last month.