Firms to land NASA-funded probes on moon

A pair of companies are planning to launch uncrewed spacecraft to the moon within weeks of each other early next year in a NASA-funded effort that could mark the first soft landings for the United States on the lunar surface since the last of the Apollo missions in 1972.

But in a sign of how the commercial space industry is transforming exploration, the companies are also vying for another historic first: to become the first private venture to land on the moon.

On Jan. 8, Astrobotic, a company based in Pittsburgh, is scheduled to launch its Peregrine spacecraft on the inaugural launch of the Vulcan rocket, which is operated by the United Launch Alliance, the joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing. Then, in mid-February, from another pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida, Intuitive Machines is set to launch its lander on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.

The missions are related to NASA’s Artemis program, which intends to return astronauts to the lunar surface. But these missions are part of an effort called the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which is aimed to send cargo and science experiments to the moon. In announcing the program five years ago, then-NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said he wanted to harness the capabilities of private industry to go quickly and inexpensively. “What we’re going for here is speed,” he said at the time.

Several companies are eligible to compete for $2.6 billion worth of contracts over 10 years. And after years of delays, the first missions are finally happening, with more to come.

“This is an exciting time,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in an interview. “These guys can become scouts for the astronauts that we’re going to land on the moon. And we can learn things about the moon that otherwise we couldn’t have because we couldn’t have these many landings.”

It’s not clear which company would land first. Astrobotic said in a release that if it launches as scheduled on Jan. 8, its spacecraft would touch down on Feb. 23. A spokesperson for Intuitive Machines said the company expects to land “approximately seven days after launch.” Its launch date had been scheduled for Jan. 12, but was moved back to mid-February because “unfavorable weather conditions resulted in shifts in the SpaceX launch manifest.” The company has not yet released an exact launch or landing date.

The missions come as several nations have sent spacecraft to the moon in recent years. And the Japanese space agency is hoping its robotic lander, which launched on Sept. 7, would touch down on Jan. 19. That would make it the fifth country to soft land on the moon and come just months after India successfully landed a craft on the lunar surface in August.

Under the Artemis program, NASA intends to land astronauts on the moon in the coming years, perhaps as soon as 2025, but probably later. After successfully sending the Orion spacecraft without anyone on board around the moon last year, it is planning a lunar flyby mission with astronauts. That was initially scheduled for late next year, but Nelson said the timeline might slip into 2025. “They’re going through all kinds of testing,” he said, adding that the space agency intends to provide an update on the schedule “early in the New Year.”

But before then, NASA is hoping to make several robotic landings to help pave the way. In addition to the two scheduled for early in the year, NASA is planning to send its first robotic rover to the moon on an Astrobotic spacecraft. Called VIPER (for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover), the golf-cart sized vehicle would be outfitted with a drill to search for water in the form of ice near the lunar south pole.

“If this all works out, what an amazing tool to support humans on the surface of the moon but also to do exciting science and commercial activities in ways that otherwise are not achievable,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, the former head of NASA’s science division who oversaw the program.

Still, he said, the approach of partnering with the commercial sector for such missions “needs to be proven,” and landing on the moon is an incredibly difficult task. Chances of a successful landing on any mission, he estimated, are about 50%. But having two companies going for it at the same time increases the chances of an American spacecraft on the moon for the first time in more than 50 years.