United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket, which is assembled in the company’s world-class Decatur facility, was chosen Thursday to launch the “Lucy” mission, which is scheduled to take place in October 2021.

“We could not be more pleased that NASA has selected ULA to launch this amazing planetary science mission,” Tory Bruno, ULA’s president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. “This mission has a once-in-a-lifetime planetary launch window, and Atlas V’s world-leading schedule certainty, coupled with our reliability and performance provided the optimal vehicle for this mission. Our Atlas V rocket has launched 79 times achieving 100 percent mission success, and we look forward to working again with our mission partners to explore our universe.”

Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) Friday applauded ULA’s selection by NASA to help power the first-ever mission to Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids.

Exciting news for @NASA & @ULALaunch – #NASA has selected #ULA to launch @NASALucy2Trojan, the first mission to Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids. The mission will fly on the powerful #AtlasV rocket & will offer new insights into planetary science & our universe. https://t.co/Eh0sMrUAo6

— Richard Shelby (@SenShelby) February 1, 2019

The Atlas V rocket has a strong history in launching planetary missions for NASA, including Mars Science Lab; New Horizons; OSIRIS-REx (the first U.S. mission to return asteroid samples to Earth); and the Solar Dynamics Observatory to study the sun.

Jupiter’s swarms of Trojan asteroids may be remnants of the primordial material that formed the outer planets, and serve as time capsules from the birth of our solar system more than 4 billion years ago. Lucy will be the first space mission in history to study the Trojans. The mission takes its name from the fossilized human ancestor (named “Lucy” by her discoverers) whose skeleton provided unique insight into humanity’s evolution. Over the course of the mission, Lucy will complete a 12-year journey to seven different asteroids.

NASA noted, “No other space mission in history has been launched to as many different destinations in independent orbits around our sun. Lucy will show us, for the first time, the diversity of the primordial bodies that built the planets. Lucy’s discoveries will open new insights into the origins of our Earth and ourselves.”

With more than a century of combined heritage, ULA is the world’s most experienced and reliable launch service provider. ULA has successfully delivered 132 missions to orbit that provide Earth observation capabilities, enable global communications, unlock the mysteries of our solar system and support life-saving technology.

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn