US: Astrobotic's Peregrine lander burns up after failing Moon mission

Pittsburgh-basedAstrobotic Technology's lunar landerPeregrine burnt up as it re-entered Earth. Peregrine was expected to conclude its journey at around 4 pm ET on Thursday as it smashed into Earth's atmosphere over a remote area of the South Pacific Ocean, CNN reported on Friday (Jan 19)

Astrobotic Technology announced early in the day that it lost contact with the Peregrine lunar lander on Thursday afternoon. In a post on X, Astrobotic said, "As expected, Astrobotic lost telemetry with the Peregrine lander at around 3.50 pm EST. While this indicates the vehicle completed its controlled re-entry over open water in the South Pacific at 4.04 pm EST, we await independent confirmation from government entities."

Add WION as a Preferred Source

The company further said that it would address a press conference later on Friday where it will provide a post-flight update. In a subsequent post on X, Astrobotic shared a video of the Peregrine filming a video of Earth after its successful separation from the ULA's Vulcan rocket.

"Counterclockwise from top left centre is the DHL MoonBox, Astroscale's Pocari Sweat Lunar Dream Time Capsule, & Peregrine landing leg. Background: our big blue marble, Earth!" it said.

Peregrine would fail to make soft landing on Moon

The Peregrine lander was launched successfully on Jan 8 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, but suffered a propulsion system issue en route to the Moon.

A day after the launch, Astrobotic announced that Peregrine would fail to make a soft landing on the Moon after springing a propellant leak in the first few hours of its journey in space.

Also watch:Why is NASA pushing back Moon mission timelines?

On Friday, the lander was recorded firing its thrusters on its way to re-entry above Australia. It carried seven NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) instruments that were meant to inspect the lunar surface.

A space race to Moon

As part of its Artemis mission, the United States has been planning to put astronauts back on the Moon in late 2026, while China has been planning to do the same by 2030. Before humans arrive (on the Moon), both the space powers are planning to first send several smaller robotic missions to examine the moon's surface, a report by the news agency Reuters said.

Last week, NASA Chief Bill Nelson said that China had a very aggressive plan (over the Moon mission). "I think they would like to land before us because that might give them some PR coup. But the fact is, I don't think they will," Nelson said.

(With inputs from agencies)