The rocket serving as the initial ride for Astrobotic Technology Inc.'s Peregrine lunar lander to outer space has seen its anticipated launch date delayed once again following an investigation of an explosion that occurred during a testing exercise in Alabama.
At the start of the year, Astrobotic anticipated having its lander launch on May 4.
But on March 29, the CEO of Colorado-based spacecraft maker United Launch Alliance LLC, Tory Bruno, announced on his personal Twitter account that ULA's Vulcan Centaur V rocket had experienced "an anomaly," which preceded a Tweet he shared on April 13 that showed a video of an explosion that occurred outside of a testing rig that housed the ULA rocket.
That pushed the expected launch date to either June or July of this year but following further investigation, the ULA is now expecting to launch its Vulcan Centaur V rocket in Q4 2023 with Astrobotic's Peregrine on board.
At this point, Astrobotic is waiting for the "green light" from the ULA before it can ship Peregrine down to Cape Canaveral, Florida, for the launch, as has been the case for months. Peregrine remains in Pittsburgh and can be seen from the Moonshot Museum housed inside the North Side headquarters of Astrobotic.
"Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander is fully assembled and ready to ship to the Cape," Alivia Chapla, director of marketing and communications for Astrobotic, said in an email statement. "The team is looking forward to launch aboard United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur. We understand they are investigating a testing anomaly but have confidence they will move through the investigation and fly when it is safe to launch."
If successful, the landing of Peregrine and its 26 different payloads from NASA and private parties will be a monumental achievement not only for Astrobotic, but also for Pittsburgh and the country as well, since it will take the U.S. back to the surface of the moon for the first time in 50 years.
