Astrobotic Technology

By Irene Klotz, Mark Carreau, Vivienne Machi
With a second successful flight, United Launch Alliance’s new rocket is ready to take on military and commercial missions.
Launch Vehicles & Propulsion

By Mark Carreau
Astrobotic is reporting a successful round of Jet Propulsion Laboratory-managed Deep Space Network (DSN) communications testing with the Griffin lunar lander.
Space Exploration

By Mark Carreau
The company also says it has measures underway to prevent a recurrence.
Operations & Safety

By Mark Carreau
The grid would provide long-term support of habitats, rovers and scientific research at the Moon’s south pole.
Space

By Irene Klotz, Mark Carreau
The 100-day mission was designed to hunt for water ice near the lunar south pole.
Space

By Mark Carreau
The termination of the cost-and-schedule-challenged Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover was announced by NASA on July 17.
Space

By Mark Carreau, Irene Klotz
Rising costs and technical challenges have prompted NASA to cancel a commercially partnered, groundbreaking Moon mission.
Space

By Mark Carreau
The effort is based on the prospect that lunar resources can be mined and processed into construction materials at a lower cost than launching them from Earth.
Commercial Space

By Garrett Reim
As part of a demonstration, Astrobotic will use an AI-enabled software program to control and monitor its CubeRover lunar rover on its upcoming Moon mission.
Space Symposium

By Irene Klotz
Astrobotic and JAXA wrestle with landing on the Moon.
Space

By Graham Warwick
Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Irene Klotz
Japan has become the fifth country to soft-land a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon, but engineers are assessing an issue with its power system.
Space

By Irene Klotz
Astrobotic wrapped up its first space mission with the destructive reentry of its Peregrine lunar lander in Earth’s atmosphere on Jan. 18.
Commercial Space

By Irene Klotz
Astrobotic is projecting its troubled Peregrine lunar lander will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere over the South Pacific Ocean two days earlier than previous estimates.
Space

By Irene Klotz
Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic is preparing to send its Peregrine lunar lander toward a destructive reentry into Earth’s atmosphere on Jan. 18.
Commercial Space

By Irene Klotz
With its Moon landing no longer a possibility, Peregrine was repurposed for in-space operations.
Space

By Irene Klotz
Astrobotic has repurposed its Peregrine lander for in-space operations and activated all 10 powered experiments aboard, the company said Jan. 11.
Commercial Space

By Irene Klotz
A propulsion system leak aboard the privately operated Peregrine spacecraft will preclude a planned landing on the Moon.
Commercial Space

By Irene Klotz
A propulsion issue, which initially prevented the spacecraft from properly orienting toward the Sun, could thwart its planned touchdown on the Moon.
Space

By Irene Klotz
United Launch Alliance’s first Vulcan rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral SFS on Jan. 8.
Space

By Mark Carreau
Astrobotic Technology is pitching an innovative strategy for the future mining of the Moon using rocket propulsion for extraction.
Commercial Space

By Mark Carreau
NASA soon intends to lift the curtain on a whole new strategy of turning to America’s private sector for the launch of a lunar lander.
Commercial Space

By Irene Klotz
A privately owned lunar lander slated to fly aboard the first United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket arrived in Florida on Oct. 30 for launch preparations.
Commercial Space

By Mark Carreau
The original launch date for IM's Nova-C lunar lander—from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center atop a Falcon 9 rocket—was planned for as soon as mid-November.
Space

By Irene Klotz
The U.S. Space Force will require two missions prior to using the booster for national security space missions for the ULA Vulcan Centaur launcher.
Space