Astrobotic Technology is an American
privately held company
A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...
that is
developing space robotics
A robotic spacecraft is an uncrewed spacecraft, usually under telerobotic control. A robotic spacecraft designed to make scientific research measurements is often called a space probe. Many space missions are more suited to telerobotic rather ...
technology for lunar and planetary missions. It was founded in 2007 by
Carnegie Mellon
Carnegie may refer to:
People
* Carnegie (surname), including a list of people with the name
* Clan Carnegie, a lowland Scottish clan
Institutions Named for Andrew Carnegie
*Carnegie Building (Troy, New York), on the campus of Rensselaer Polyt ...
professor
Red Whittaker and his associates with the goal of winning the
Google Lunar X Prize
The Google Lunar XPRIZE (GLXP), sometimes referred to as Moon 2.0,
was a 2007–2018 inducement prize space competition organized by the X Prize Foundation, and sponsored by Google. The challenge called for privately funded teams to be th ...
. The company is based in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. The first launch of one of its spacecraft, the ''Peregrine'' lunar lander, is expected to take place in late 2022.
On June 11, 2020, Astrobotic received a second contract for the
Commercial Lunar Payload Services
Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) is a NASA program to contract transportation services able to send small robotic landers and rovers to the Moon's south polar region mostly with the goals of scouting for lunar resources, testing in situ ...
program. NASA will pay Astrobotic US$199.5 million to take the
VIPER
The Viperidae (vipers) are a family of snakes found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long (relative to non-vipers), hinged fangs tha ...
rover to the moon, targeting a landing in November 2024.
History
The team stated a goal from the start in 2007: to be the first commercial operation to land their ''Red Rover'' on the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
, using their ''Artemis Lander''.
The company's first running prototype of ''Red Rover'' was completed the same year, and the concept lander was renamed ''Griffin''.
On July 28, 2008,
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
awarded Astrobotic funding for a concept study on "regolith moving methods", and the next year, Astrobotic began to receive Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding from NASA totaling over US$795,000 to investigate prospecting for lunar resources, which eventually led to a concept called ''Polar Excavator''.
On October 15, 2010, NASA awarded a contract to Astrobotic for Innovative Lunar Demonstrations Data (ILDD)
firm-fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with a total value up to US$30.1 million over a period of up to five years, and in December 2010, NASA's US$500,000 ILDD project for further Lunar Demonstrations Data was awarded to Astrobotic.
Astrobotic's "Technologies Enabling Exploration of Skylights, Lava Tubes, and Caves", was a Phase I selection for
NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts
The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) is a NASA program for development of far reaching, long term advanced concepts by "creating breakthroughs, radically better or entirely new aerospace concepts". The program operated under the name N ...
(NIAC). In April 2011, Astrobotic received a US$599,000 two-year contract to develop a scalable gravity offload device for testing rover mobility in simulated lunar gravity under NASA's
Small Business Technology Transfer Program
The Small Business Innovation Research (or SBIR) program is a U.S. government funding program, coordinated by the Small Business Administration, intended to help certain small businesses conduct research and development (R&D). Funding takes the ...
(STTR).
In May 2012, David Gump left the position of President of Astrobotic and John Thornton took his place.
On April 30, 2014, NASA announced that Astrobotic Technology was one of the three companies selected for the
Lunar CATALYST
The Lunar CATALYST (Lunar Cargo Transportation and Landing by Soft Touchdown) initiative is an attempt by NASA to encourage the development of robotic lunar landers that can be integrated with United States commercial launch capabilities to deli ...
initiative.
[ ] NASA was negotiating a 3-year no-funds-exchanged Space Act Agreement (SAA) where the ''Griffin'' lander may be involved.
[ ] The CATALYST agreement was extended in October 2017 for 2 years.
[ ]
On June 2, 2016, Astrobotic Technology announced a new design of its ''Griffin'' concept lander and named it ''Peregrine''.
Airbus Defence and Space
Airbus Defence and Space is the division of Airbus SE responsible for the development and manufacturing of the corporation's defence and space products, while also providing related services. The division was formed in January 2014 during the ...
signed a memorandum of understanding to provide engineering support for Astrobotic as it refines the lander's design. In December 2016, Astrobotic slipped their estimated launch date to 2019 and separated from the
Google Lunar X Prize
The Google Lunar XPRIZE (GLXP), sometimes referred to as Moon 2.0,
was a 2007–2018 inducement prize space competition organized by the X Prize Foundation, and sponsored by Google. The challenge called for privately funded teams to be th ...
.
On November 29, 2018, Astrobotic was declared eligible to bid on NASA's
Commercial Lunar Payload Services
Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) is a NASA program to contract transportation services able to send small robotic landers and rovers to the Moon's south polar region mostly with the goals of scouting for lunar resources, testing in situ ...
to deliver science and technology payloads to the Moon.
[ ] Astrobotic's successful bid entailed a US$79.5 million contract to deliver payloads to
Lacus Mortis
Lacus Mortis (Latin ''mortis'', "Lake of Death") is a hexagonal-shaped plain of basaltic lava flows in the northeastern part of the Moon's near face. It was formed as a floor-fractured crater during the pre-Imbrian epoch, then flooded during the ...
. Astrobotic set an initial target of fourteen payloads to launch starting in July 2021.
In September 2019,
Spacebit signed an agreement to deliver the first UK lunar rover
Asagumo
Two naval vessels of Japan have been named ''Asagumo'' (朝雲), which translates to "Morning Clouds".
* was an in the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was launched in 1937, completed in 1938, sunk in 1944, and struck in 1945.
* was a in the Japane ...
on Astrobotic's upcoming mission in 2021 and named this "Spacebit mission one".
On September 25, 2019, John Thornton of Astrobotic was named CEO of the Year by the Pittsburgh Technology Council at the 23rd annual Tech50 awards ceremony.
On January 24, 2021,
MrBeast
Jimmy Donaldson (born May 7, 1998), better known as MrBeast, is an American YouTube personality, credited with pioneering a genre of YouTube videos that centers on expensive stunts. His MrBeast YouTube channel had 112.2 million subscribers as ...
, a
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
r, announced that he would be placing a payload, a
hard drive
A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnet ...
containing large numbers of digital image files submitted by anyone who contributed US$10 via his online store, on the ''Peregrine'' lander.
In June 2021, the maiden flight of
Vulcan Centaur
Vulcan Centaur is a two-stage-to-orbit, heavy-lift launch vehicle that is under development by the United Launch Alliance (ULA) since 2014 with an initial flight expected in early 2023. It is principally designed to meet launch demands for the ...
, carrying the first Peregrine lander as its payload, was delayed to 2022 due to payload and engine testing delays.
In November 2021, Astrobotic Technology was named one of the 'World's Best Employers in the Space Industry' by Everything Space, a recruitment platform specializing in the
space industry
Space industry refers to economic activities related to manufacturing components that go into Earth's orbit or beyond, delivering them to those regions, and related services. Owing to the prominence of the satellite-related activities, some sour ...
.
Commercial payload pricing
As of 2018, payload delivery to lunar orbit is ; delivery to the lunar surface is ; and for deploying a rover.
Lunar missions
''Icebreaker'' (canceled)
In April 2011, Astrobotic contracted with
SpaceX
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...
for a
Falcon 9
Falcon 9 is a partially reusable medium lift launch vehicle that can carry cargo and crew into Earth orbit, produced by American aerospace company SpaceX.
The rocket has two stages. The first (booster) stage carries the second stage and payl ...
launch of a
lunar north pole
The lunar north pole is the point in the Northern Hemisphere of the Moon where the lunar axis of rotation meets its surface.
The lunar North Pole is the northernmost point on the Moon, lying diametrically opposite the lunar south pole. It define ...
mission for as early as December 2013. The mission was intended to launch the ''Griffin'' lander and deliver "a small
rover
Rover may refer to:
People
* Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian
* Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer
* Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist
Places
* Rover, Arkansas, US
* Rover, Missouri, US
* ...
and up to about of payload to the surface of the Moon". The launch date slipped to 2015, and it was first named ''Polar Excavator'', and then ''Icebreaker'', that would target the
lunar north pole
The lunar north pole is the point in the Northern Hemisphere of the Moon where the lunar axis of rotation meets its surface.
The lunar North Pole is the northernmost point on the Moon, lying diametrically opposite the lunar south pole. It define ...
. This expedition's rover was to be ''Polaris''.
[ ] A model of the ''Polaris'' rover was unveiled in October 2012, and the company indicated that they were still under contract to SpaceX for a Falcon 9 mission. The launch date further slipped to 2016, and Astrobotic contracted with two other GLXP teams including Team
Hakuto
[Announcement: New Team Name i ...](_blank)
and
Team AngelicvM
Team AngelicvM is a private company based in Chile that plans to deploy a small rover on the Moon. Their rover, called ''Unity'', is one of various rovers that will be carried by the commercial ''Peregrine'' lander manufactured by Astrobotic Tech ...
to share the launch expenses. The agreement was to launch the rovers of all teams on a single
SpaceX
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...
Falcon 9 v1.1
Falcon 9 v1.1 was the second version of SpaceX's Falcon 9 orbital launch vehicle. The rocket was developed in 2011–2013, made its maiden launch in September 2013, and its final flight in January 2016. The Falcon 9 rocket was fully designed ...
which would then use the Astrobotic ''Griffin'' lander. After landing on the lunar surface, all teams would have competed against each other to achieve the specific GLXP objectives and earn the various prizes.
The ''Griffin'' lander was never built, and ''Icebreaker'' mission was not launched.
Mission One
In July 2017, Astrobotic announced an agreement had been reached with United Launch Alliance (ULA) to launch their ''Peregrine'' lander aboard a
Vulcan Centaur
Vulcan Centaur is a two-stage-to-orbit, heavy-lift launch vehicle that is under development by the United Launch Alliance (ULA) since 2014 with an initial flight expected in early 2023. It is principally designed to meet launch demands for the ...
launch vehicle.
[ This first lunar lander mission, called Mission One, was initially planned to be launched in July 2021.]
By May 2019, Mission One had 14 commercial payloads including small rovers from Hakuto
[Announcement: New Team Name i ...](_blank)
, Team AngelicvM
Team AngelicvM is a private company based in Chile that plans to deploy a small rover on the Moon. Their rover, called ''Unity'', is one of various rovers that will be carried by the commercial ''Peregrine'' lander manufactured by Astrobotic Tech ...
, and a larger rover from the Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
named ''Andy'' that has a mass of and is tall. A small rover, weighing , named Spacebit is included, and it moves on four legs. It is a technological demonstrator and will travel a distance of at least . Other payloads aboard the lander is a library, in micro print on nickel, which will include Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read refer ...
contents and Long Now Foundation
The Long Now Foundation, established in 1996, is an American non-profit organization based in San Francisco that seeks to start and promote a long-term cultural institution. It aims to provide a counterpoint to what it views as today's "faster ...
's Rosetta Project
The Rosetta Project is a global collaboration of language specialists and native speakers working to develop a contemporary version of the historic Rosetta Stone to last from 2000 to 12,000 AD; it is run by the Long Now Foundation. Its goal is ...
.
On November 29, 2018, Astrobotic was made eligible to bid on NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services
Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) is a NASA program to contract transportation services able to send small robotic landers and rovers to the Moon's south polar region mostly with the goals of scouting for lunar resources, testing in situ ...
(CLPS) to deliver science and technology payloads to the Moon, and in May 2019, it was awarded its first lander contract for NASA. Therefore, in addition to the 14 commercial payloads, the lander will carry 14 NASA-sponsored payloads, for a total of 28.
In June 2021, United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno
Tory Bruno (born November 3, 1961 as Salvatore Thomas Bruno) is an American aerospace engineer and executive. He has been the CEO of United Launch Alliance (ULA) since August 2014. Before ULA, he worked at Lockheed Martin, where he made the trans ...
announced that the maiden flight of Vulcan Centaur, with Mission One aboard, had been delayed to 2022 due to payload and engine testing delays. As of December 2022, Mission One is expected to be launched in Q1 2023.
''Peregrine'' will carry a maximum payload mass of during Mission One, and it is planned to land on Lacus Mortis
Lacus Mortis (Latin ''mortis'', "Lake of Death") is a hexagonal-shaped plain of basaltic lava flows in the northeastern part of the Moon's near face. It was formed as a floor-fractured crater during the pre-Imbrian epoch, then flooded during the ...
, a relatively flat plateau at 44°N 25°E, and operate for about 8 Earth days. The payload mass for the planned second mission (Mission Two) is capped at , and the Mission Three and later missions would carry the full payload capacity of .
Spacecraft
''Peregrine'' lander
The ''Peregrine'' lander was announced in 2016. It inherits designs from their previous concept lander called ''Griffin'', which was larger but with the same payload capacity. Astrobotic had contracted Airbus Defence and Space
Airbus Defence and Space is the division of Airbus SE responsible for the development and manufacturing of the corporation's defence and space products, while also providing related services. The division was formed in January 2014 during the ...
to provide additional engineering support as they refine the lander's design.
''Peregrine'' bus structure is mainly manufactured out of aluminum
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...
alloy, and it is reconfigurable for specific missions. Its propulsion system features a cluster of five thrusters, built by Frontier Aerospace. Each thruster produces 150 lb (667 N) thrust. This propulsion system would propel the trans-lunar injection
A trans-lunar injection (TLI) is a propulsive maneuver used to set a spacecraft on a trajectory that will cause it to arrive at the Moon.
History
The first space probe to attempt TLI was the Soviet Union's Luna 1 on January 2, 1959 which wa ...
, trajectory corrections, lunar orbit insertion
In astronomy, lunar orbit (also known as a selenocentric orbit) is the orbit of an object around the Moon.
As used in the space program, this refers not to the orbit of the Moon about the Earth, but to orbits by spacecraft around the Moon. The ...
, and powered descent. The propulsion system is capable of delivering an orbiter to the Moon and then performing a powered soft landing. The lander would carry up to of bi-propellant mass in four tanks; its composition is MON-25 / MMH, a hypergolic bi-propellant. For attitude control
Attitude control is the process of controlling the orientation of an aerospace vehicle with respect to an inertial frame of reference or another entity such as the celestial sphere, certain fields, and nearby objects, etc.
Controlling vehicle ...
(orientation), the spacecraft uses twelve thrusters (45 N each) also powered by MON-25/MMH.
The spacecraft's avionics systems incorporate guidance and navigation to the Moon, and a Doppler LiDAR
Lidar (, also LIDAR, or LiDAR; sometimes LADAR) is a method for determining ranges (variable distance) by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. It can also be ...
to assist the automated landing on four legs. From Mission 2 Its landing ellipse will be 100 m x 100 m, down from 24 km × 6 km previously.
''Peregrine'' is about 2.5 m wide and 1.9 m tall, and it would be able to deliver up to of payload to the surface of the Moon.
Its electrical systems will be powered by a lithium-ion battery
A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also se ...
that is recharged by a solar panel
A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a photo ...
made of GaInP/GaAs/Ge. Radiators and thermal insulators are used to dispose of excess heat, but the lander does not carry heaters, so the first few ''Peregrine'' landers are not expected to survive the lunar night, which lasts 14 Earth days. Future missions could be adapted to do so.
For communications to Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
, the lander uses different frequencies within the X-band
The X band is the designation for a band of frequencies in the microwave radio region of the electromagnetic spectrum. In some cases, such as in communication engineering, the frequency range of the X band is rather indefinitely set at approxim ...
range for uplink as well as downlink. Following landing, a 2.4 GHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
modem enables wireless communication between the lander and deployed rovers on the lunar surface.
Payload suppliers
Payloads on ''Peregrine''
Lunar rovers
Instruments
Time capsules
DHL MoonBox DHL MoonBox is a mementos box that will be going to the Moon in 2023 on Astrobotic Technology's ''Peregrine'' lunar lander. The DHL MoonBox is made by DHL
DHL is an American founded, German logistics company providing courier, package deliver ...
Other spacecraft
Canceled
Griffin lander
The Griffin lander is targeted to land in a region of interest in the south polar region of the Moon in November 2024. The spacecraft is expected to operate for 100 days after its landing. NASA's VIPER
The Viperidae (vipers) are a family of snakes found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long (relative to non-vipers), hinged fangs tha ...
will be the main payload on the larger Griffin lander (450 kg). VIPER will investigate permanently shadowed regions of craters located in the moon's south pole, specifically for potential deposits of water ice that could be used as resources for future crewed missions. Other commercial payloads are on board the Griffin lander, including the Lunar Codex's Polaris archive of contemporary culture as one of the commercial sub-payloads of Astrobotics' MoonBox initiative.
Rovers
Astrobotic has a line of three rovers called ''Polaris'', CubeRover, and ''MoonRanger''. and it was to be used on a now cancelled mission called ''Icebreaker'' to the lunar north pole
The lunar north pole is the point in the Northern Hemisphere of the Moon where the lunar axis of rotation meets its surface.
The lunar North Pole is the northernmost point on the Moon, lying diametrically opposite the lunar south pole. It define ...
using their ''Griffin'' lander and deliver "a small rover
Rover may refer to:
People
* Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian
* Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer
* Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist
Places
* Rover, Arkansas, US
* Rover, Missouri, US
* ...
and up to about of payload to the surface of the Moon".
* CubeRover is a class of planetary rovers with a standardized format meant to accelerate the pace of space exploration. The idea is equivalent to that of the successful CubeSat
A CubeSat is a class of miniaturized satellite based around a form factor consisting of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit, and often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure. CubeSats ...
format, with a standardized architecture to assemble new units that will be all compatible, modular, and inexpensive. The rover class concept is being developed by Astrobotic Technology in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
, and it is partly funded by NASA awards. The principal investigator
In many countries, the term principal investigator (PI) refers to the holder of an independent grant and the lead researcher for the grant project, usually in the sciences, such as a laboratory study or a clinical trial. The phrase is also often us ...
of the program is Andrew Horchler. The first derivative of a CubeRover, a spinoff rover called Iris developed by CMU students, is planned to be deployed on the Moon in 2022 on board Astrobotic's ''Peregrine'' lander.[
* ''MoonRanger'' is a rover being developed to carry payloads on the Moon for NASA's ]Commercial Lunar Payload Services
Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) is a NASA program to contract transportation services able to send small robotic landers and rovers to the Moon's south polar region mostly with the goals of scouting for lunar resources, testing in situ ...
(CLPS). The US$5.6 million contract was awarded to Astrobotic and its partner Carnegie Mellon University on July 1, 2019.[ ''MoonRanger'' will be launched aboard Masten Mission One, the first XL-1 lunar lander, which is currently scheduled to launch in November 2023.] The rover will carry science payloads yet to be determined and developed by other providers, that will focus on scouting and creating 3D maps of a polar region for signs of water ice Water ice could refer to:
* Ice formed by water (as opposed to other substances)
*The alternate term for various similar frozen fruit-flavoured desserts:
** Italian ice primarily in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley
**Sorbet
Sorbet (), also ...
or lunar pits for entrances to Moon caves. The rover would operate mostly autonomously for up to one week.