The Peregrine lunar lander encountered critical propulsion issues moments after it separated from the Vulcan rocket to begin its journey to the Moon. The spacecraft, which was to land on the Moon on February 23, has become a flyby mission with less than 40 hours of life remaining. Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic has confirmed what appeared to be a fuel leak on the craft, leading it to lose enough propellant to no longer achieve the necessary altitude for a landing. The company uses Peregrine’s existing power to perform “as many payload and spacecraft operations as possible.” Its first image from space showed it’s Multi-Layer Insulation looking “disturbed,” which Astrobotic said aligned with telemetry data pointing to a propulsion system anomaly.
NASA is evaluating how the spacecraft’s failure affects the mission. The agency stated it was still in contact with the private firm behind Peregrine, Astrobotic Technology. It urged all parties to keep the focus on the mission’s scientific goals, including searching for water ice in the Moon’s regolith and collecting data about the lunar surface and its environment.
Peregrine was launched on Monday with a host of science instruments on board. Five of the 20 payloads came from NASA under its Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, while the other half consisted of science from companies that bought space on the lander for their projects. The non-NASA science payloads include a set of small rovers that will mark Latin America’s first lunar mission and a detector to assess radiation levels on the Moon for future astronauts.
Astrobotic developed the 2-meter-tall spacecraft under a $108 million contract with NASA, designed to take advantage of the program’s goal to lower the cost of getting to the Moon by letting the private sector compete for such contracts. The company’s CEO, John Thornton, has characterized the Peregrine launch as a test flight that it hopes will prove the value of its approach.
The company’s investors also stand to make a lot of money from the successful mission, which could help it break even on its initial launches and establish itself as a credible commercial player in the space industry. Its investors have paid up to $1.2 million per kilogram of payload for the privilege of sending their items on a Peregrine mission, which is expected to earn about $20 billion in cargo sales over its lifetime.
Intuitive Machines, another private company that aims to cut the cost of spaceflight, is scheduled to launch its IM-1 lunar lander on a SpaceX Falcon 9 between Jan. 12 and 16. The lander will be carrying cargo for four memorial companies, including Celestis, whose CEO said no single culture or religion owns the Moon and that no one should have a veto over how the Moon is used.
