Pittsburgh-based space robotics company Astrobotic Technology Inc. is expanding out west.
The company announced on Tuesday that it has acquired Masten Space Systems, a competing space technology firm that, like Astrobotic, had landed several contract deals with NASA. The final cost of the acquisition, Astrobotic said, was $4.5 million.
Masten Space Systems is based in Mojave, California. The company has been in operation for over 18 years and has conducted over 600 vertical takeoff and landing rocket flights.
The acquisition will bring Astrobotic’s workforce to over 200, with employees continuing operations in Pittsburgh and at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. Astrobotic said it plans to maintain suborbital flight operations at Masten’s test sites in Mojave.
“Masten’s suborbital launch vehicles and propulsion test centers are national assets for the space industry. We are excited to operate and expand these services for companies, governments and space agencies internationally,” Astrobotic CEO John Thornton said in a release. “Bringing these services to Astrobotic is a natural fit for our mission to make space accessible to the world.”
Astrobotic is currently working to send its Peregrine Lunar Lander to the moon, which according to the company, is set to deliver commercial payloads to the lunar surface in “late 2022,” as a part of NASA’s efforts to return to the moon.
Masten Space Systems had also been working toward a similar goal of delivering payloads to the lunar surface, in collaboration with NASA but also other major players in the space industry, such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Prior to the acquisition, Masten had a lunar lander mission scheduled for 2023, via its Xelene lander.
Per Astrobotic’s announcement, it will be focusing on further developing Masten’s vertical takeoff and landing technology, including continued development of Masten’s Xogdor rocket, which will offer capabilities for higher altitudes, longer missions and supersonic flight for suborbital payload testing.
Astrobotic said it will also continue to utilize Masten’s propulsion testing infrastructure to further develop its portfolio of innovations in lunar night survival, instant landing pad construction, lunar water mining technology and lunar infrastructure construction technology, with Astrobotic describing the portfolio as “highly complementary to Astrobotic’s landers, rovers and surface system product lines.”
“There is still more to iron out, but Astrobotic is confident in the value Masten’s team and capabilities add to Astrobotic’s already strong portfolio,” Thornton said.
