Astrobotic mates Peregrine Moon lander with Vulcan rocket, now targeting January 8 for launch

Along with Intuitive Machines, its competitor Astrobotic too has delayed its mission to the Moon. The company announced December 19 that it is now targeting January 8, 2024 for the launch of its Peregrine lander instead of December 24. It also said that the lunar lander will touch down on the Moon on February 23.

The announcement was made after teams completed Peregrine's fuelling and integration procedures and mated it with the United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket.

The Peregrine mission 1 will launch with 20 payloads out of which five have been provided by NASA. Astrobotic is the second private company in the race to the Moon other than Intuitive Machines (IM). Both the firms have built their landers under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative to aid the Artemis Program.

Check out our Peregrine lunar lander nestled into the payload fairing in @ulalaunch's #VulcanRocket! 🚀 She's fueled. She's ready for her journey to the Moon: targeting a launch on January 8, 2024 and a lunar landing on February 23, 2024! 🌙https://t.co/esT3hnayXy

— Astrobotic (@astrobotic) December 19, 2023

Astrobotic's Peregrine and IM's Nova-C landers, however, will be a lot different in their missions. While Peregrine will land Sinus Viscositatis region on the near side of the Moon, Nova will touch down Malapert A crater near the lunar south pole. Moreover, Peregrine is designed to operate for about 8 Earth days whereas Nova will operate for 14 Earth days.

About Peregrine, Astrobotic revealed that its objectives will range from seeking indications of water-ice near the lunar surface to demonstrating a rover swarm.

Astrobotic is seemingly ahead in the Moon race as its landing is scheduled for February 23. On the other hand, IM is launching its lander no earlier than mid-February. The former has a chance to become the world's first commercial firm to land on the Moon. 

The first such attempt was made by Japan-based ispace in April earlier this. Also carrying a rover made by the UAE, the lander crash landed on the lunar surface after losing contact from the mission team.

"If you’ve been following the lunar industry, you understand landing on the Moon’s surface is incredibly difficult. With that said, our team has continuously surpassed expectations and demonstrated incredible ingenuity during flight reviews, spacecraft testing, and major hardware integrations,” John Thornton, Astrobotic CEO, said in an official statement.