The commercial moon lander that launched atop the first Vulcan rocket ran into problems just hours into its flight Monday, putting its historic mission to the moon in apparent jeopardy. Experts from Astobotic Technology, which built the Peregrine lunar lander, are now attempting to stabilize a loss of propellant caused by a failure in the lander’s propulsion system.
The United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket carrying Peregrine lifted off successfully from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 2:18 a.m. Eastern. And things were smooth when the Vulcan booster stage separated a few minutes later, sending the rocket’s Centaur upper stage on its journey to place Astrobotic Technology’s Peregrine lunar lander into orbit more than 220,000 miles above Earth, where it is supposed to intercept the moon. Peregrine, the first U.S. commercial moon lander, successfully separated from the Centaur upper stage about 51 minutes after launch. Related: These are the space stocks to keep an eye on in 2024 After separation, “an anomaly then occurred, which prevented Astrobotic from achieving a stable sun-pointing orientation,” the company said in a statement released about seven hours after launch.
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The United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket carrying Peregrine lifted off successfully from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 2:18 a.m. Eastern. And things were smooth when the Vulcan booster stage separated a few minutes later, sending the rocket’s Centaur upper stage on its journey to place Astrobotic Technology’s Peregrine lunar lander into orbit more than 220,000 miles above Earth, where it is supposed to intercept the moon. Peregrine, the first U.S. commercial moon lander, successfully separated from the Centaur upper stage about 51 minutes after launch. Related: These are the space stocks to keep an eye on in 2024 After separation, “an anomaly then occurred, which prevented Astrobotic from achieving a stable sun-pointing orientation,” the company said in a statement released about seven hours after launch.
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