Officials at Astrobotic Technology Inc. have been given a more definitive timeline as to when the North Side-based aerospace company will get the first opportunity to send its Peregrine lunar lander to the moon.
The company announced that May 4 will serve as the earliest possible date for when Peregrine will get to blast off on board United Launch Alliance (ULA)'s Vulcan Centaur rocket, which is set to lift off at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Previously, Astrobotic anticipated the launch would take place in the first quarter of 2023, though it never offered a definitive date. A company spokesperson could not be reached for comment as of publication to explain why the launch is now set to occur a quarter later.
According to a report from SpaceNews, the May 4 date is the earliest that ULA can meet due to the remaining tests that are still needed to be done on its rocket and in accordance with Astrobotic's sensitive launch window, which only presents a few opportunities each month.
In January, Astrobotic announced that Peregrine successfully completed all of its various flight acceptance tests required to certify that it can survive a launch into space and an eventual touchdown on the moon.
This will mark Astrobotic's first lunar mission, which has been under development since 2017, and it’s also set to be the first commercial mission to the moon ever as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. The lander, which has solar panel power generation, is just over six feet tall by eight feet wide and is expected to have a payload weight of about 200 pounds. It’s made of aluminum and carbon fiber primarily, with navigation sensors, an avionics system, communications equipment and 24 payloads onboard as well.
