by Astrobotic Technology, the company that developed the first lunar lander to launch from the United States in five decades, said its spacecraft has suffered a “critical” loss of propulsion as it tries to right itself after a major problem exist in space.
Just an hour after launching from Florida towards the moon early Monday morning, the company announced that the spacecraft was in danger. The lunar lander, called Peregrine, was unable to position itself in front of the sun, likely due to a propulsion issue, according to the company. The route orientation prevented the spacecraft from charging its batteries.
The battery issue was later resolved, but Astrobotic was unable to correct the apparent issue with the Falcon lander’s propulsion system.
“Unfortunately, it appears that the failure within the propulsion system has caused a critical loss of propellant,” Astrobotic said in a mission update posted just after 1 p.m. ET. “The team is working to try and stabilize this loss, but given the situation, we’ve prioritized maximizing the science and data we can capture. We are currently evaluating the other mission profiles that may be feasible at this time.”
That could mean that the company will not attempt to land the Hawk lander on the moon, as expected on February 23.
Later on Monday, Astrobotic shared the first image of the Peregrine Lander in space. The photo showed that the outer layers of insulation on the vehicle had crinkled.
The malfunction was “the first visual clue that aligns with our telemetry data indicating an anomaly in the propulsion system,” the company said in a post on X’s social media platform at 4:12 p.m. ET. It was unclear whether the company was still considering a possible path to the moon or was working to map out another destination for the lander.
From launch to lunar trajectory
Astrobotic was able to make initial contact with the vehicle after its 2:18 am ET launch, but then the mission hit a snag that left the vehicle away from the sun and unable to charge its battery.
In an update released on social media Monday, Astrobotic said it believes the likely cause of the problem is “a propulsion anomaly that, if proven true, threatens the spacecraft’s ability to make soft ground on the Moon.”
Astrobotic initially said the anomaly — an aerospace term for a mission-threatening issue or problem — “prevented Astrobotic from achieving a stable solar orientation,” the company posted on X at 9:37 a.m. ET. He added that his engineers were solving the issue in real time.
A sun-facing position is usually required to provide solar power to charge spacecraft batteries.
Then “mission controllers developed and deployed an improvised maneuver to redirect the solar panels toward the Sun,” according to the company.
That effort was successful, Astrobotic said.
“The team’s improvised maneuver successfully diverted the Peregrine solar array towards the Sun. We are now charging the battery,” the company said in an update posted at 12:34 pm ET.
Still, the company said it needs to fix the underlying drive issue. The spacecraft would have to use its onboard thrusters – and have enough propellant left – to make a soft landing on the moon.
A successful first leg
The lunar lander, named Peregrine after the world’s fastest bird, appeared to have had a successful first leg of its journey after it launched a Vulcan Centaur rocket developed by the joint venture Lockheed Martin and Boeing United Launch Alliance achieve.
It was the first-ever flight of the Vulcan Centaur rocket, a new vehicle from ULA designed to replace its rocket.
The company confirmed just after 3 a.m. ET that the Vulcan Centaur performed as expected, delivering the Peregrine lunar lander into a translunar injection orbit, according to ULA. That involves a precisely timed engine burn that pushed the Hawk lander onto an Earth orbit path that would allow it to sync with the moon some 384,400 kilometers (238,855 miles) away.
The Hawk was then expected to land its own trucks on board, using up to three maneuvers to find its path.
In a statement, Astrobotic said that Peregrine successfully communicated with NASA’s Deep Space Network, activated its avionics systems, and “the thermal, propulsion and power controllers, all powered up and operated as expected .”
“After successful activation of the propulsion systems, Peregrine entered a safe operational state,” the company said.
It was only later, however, that the “anomaly” appeared on the Hawk waste.
Hawk mission pledges
Pittsburgh-based company Astrobotic Technology developed Peregrine under a $108 million contract with NASA. The vehicle was designed from the start to be relatively cheap – trying to fulfill NASA’s vision to reduce the cost of robotic landings on the moon by asking the private sector to compete for such contracts.
Constellation CEO John Thornton told CNN on January 2 that he viewed this first launch as a test mission.
“This is really like a 50-50 shots on target kind of approach – where it’s really more about the successful industry, not any specific mission,” said Thornton.
Joel Kearns, the associate deputy administrator for exploration at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, released a statement Monday saying, “All successes and setbacks are opportunities for learning and growth. We will use this lesson to advance our efforts in science, exploration and commercial development of the Moon.”
In a statement, NASA said it plans to continue providing updates as more information becomes available and expects the space agency’s administrator, Bill Nelson, to make comments later today.
It is not yet clear whether it will still be possible for Constellation to attempt to land the Falcon. In the CNN interview, Thornton said the spacecraft was designed to perform three propulsion maneuvers in orbit – but no more. Any additional fuel consumption would leave the vehicle without sufficient power to make a controlled landing.
Thornton, who previously said that this Hawk mission cost more money than it made, also told CNN what it would mean for the company if this mission fails.
“It will certainly have some impact on our relationships and our ability to accomplish additional missions in the future,” Thornton said. “It certainly wouldn’t be the end of the business, but it would certainly be challenging.”
If the moon mission fails, it could be a big loss not only for Astrobotic, but also for NASA and other countries and institutions that have payloads aboard the Seahawk.
If the lander were lost so early in the mission, Astrobotic would not be able to test the vehicle’s ability to land on the lunar surface.
On board the Hawk vehicle are five scientific instruments from NASA and 15 other payloads from various organizations and countries. The commercial payloads on the lander include mementos and even human remains paid by customers who paid to fly to the lunar surface.
In its update just after 4 pm ET Monday, Astrobotic said its Peregrine team had been “up and working hard for more than 24 hours.”
“We ask for your patience as we reassess incoming data so we can provide ongoing updates later this evening,” the statement said.
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