First US Commercial Lunar Lander in Trouble

Private venture Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander launched from Cape Canaveral aboard a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket early Monday morning, carrying five scientific instruments for NASA. Although the launch was a success, Astrobotic reported that an issue with the lander’s propulsion system prevented it from orienting its solar panels toward the Sun.

An improvised maneuver successfully reoriented the panels, but Astrobotic soon after concluded that a critical amount of propellant was lost. As of publication time, the company was assessing alternative mission options and has “prioritized maximizing the science and data we can capture.”

The launch is the first for the Vulcan rocket as well as for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which contracts with commercial providers to deliver science and technology payloads to the lunar surface. The agency established the program in 2018 with the expectation it would transport about two payloads per year, potentially as early as 2019.

The Peregrine contract was among the first that CLPS issued in 2019 and had an initial value of about $80 million that has now increased to $108 million. The goal was originally to launch Peregrine in 2021, but it and all other CLPS launch target dates have slipped repeatedly.

The broad aim of CLPS has been to kickstart a lunar services industry, with NASA as just one customer among many. Another CLPS contractor, Intuitive Machines, is slated to launch its IM-1 lunar lander aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in mid-February.