American company, Astrobotic, is planning to send a lander named Peregrine to the Moon by the end of this year. This unmanned mission was commissioned by NASA under their Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. Peregrine will be carrying NASA instruments to study the lunar environment, in preparation for the agency’s upcoming manned missions.
John Thornton, CEO of Astrobotic, shared that the goal of this mission is to make it possible to develop a lunar economy by providing transport services at a lower cost. This is made possible through the fixed-price contracts given to US companies by NASA.
The launch of Peregrine is scheduled for December 24th, from Florida, aboard the inaugural flight of the new Vulcan Centaur rocket from United Launch Alliance (ULA). The probe will then take a few days to reach lunar orbit and is set to attempt landing on January 25th. This timing was chosen to ensure optimal light conditions at the target location.
Unlike previous missions, Peregrine’s descent will be carried out autonomously, without human intervention. However, it will be closely monitored from Astrobotic’s control center in Pittsburgh. Thornton acknowledged the daunting challenge of landing on the Moon, with only half of the previous missions being successful. He also admitted to feeling a mix of excitement and fear at every stage of the mission.
This is not the first attempt by a private company to land on the Moon. Earlier this year, Japanese start-up ispace made an unsuccessful landing, while Israel faced a setback in 2019. The only successful landings have been by the United States, Russia, China, and most recently, India.
In addition to Astrobotic, NASA has signed contracts with other companies, such as Firefly Aerospace, Draper, and Intuitive Machines, to send payloads to the Moon. Intuitive Machines is scheduled to take off in January 2022 aboard a SpaceX rocket.
Chris Culbert, the CLPS program manager, stated that NASA is aware of the risks involved and has accepted that some missions may not be successful. However, he believes that even if every landing is not successful, the CLPS program has already had an impact on the commercial infrastructure needed to establish a lunar economy.
NASA’s ultimate goal with their Artemis program is to establish a base on the surface of the Moon. The agency hopes that these private missions will pave the way for future manned missions and ultimately lead to a sustainable human presence on the Moon.
As the race to the Moon continues, all eyes will be on Peregrine as it attempts to make history as the first private spacecraft to land on the Moon. Whether successful or not, this mission is a significant step towards establishing a lunar economy and fulfilling NASA’s vision for the future of space exploration.
