The rocket company that will be taking Astrobotic Technolgy Inc.'s first lunar lander to space has set a new date for a highly anticipated launch that has seen multiple delays.
Colorado-based spacecraft maker United Launch Alliance LLC announced that it's vying for a Dec. 24 liftoff for its Vulcan Centaur V rocket, which will transport Astrobotic's Peregrine Lunar Lander to the upper limits of Earth's atmosphere before Peregrine takes over its independent navigation to the lunar surface, a trip that will take about a month to complete.
The Peregrine lander will be leaving Astrobotic's clean room at its North Side headquarters on Friday, so Thursday is the last day to see the lander at the Moonshot Museum.
At the start of 2023, Astrobotic had anticipated a May 4 launch date.
But on March 29, ULA CEO Tory Bruno announced that ULA's Vulcan Centaur V rocket had experienced "an anomaly," which came after a message showing a video of an explosion that occurred outside of a testing rig that housed the ULA rocket.
That pushed the expected launch date initially to either June or July of this year but following further investigation, the ULA pushed the launch to Q4 2023, with Dec. 24 being the latest date the company has settled on for the launch, which will take place from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
If successful, the landing of Peregrine and its 26 different payloads from NASA and private parties, including Carnegie Mellon University, 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.
