Category Archives: Astrobotic

Friday / 23 Oct 2020

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Astrobotic Opens State Of The Art HQ Ahead Of 2021 Moon Landing

Astrobotic, A Private NewSpace Enterprise With Carnegie Mellon Origins, Has New Home Located In Historic Manchester Neighborhood Of Pittsburgh; Renovation Of 4,366-m2 Former Post Office Reportedly 1/3 Complete, Containing Space For Fabrication, Laboratories, Administration; Further Construction To Include Drone / Rover Testing Areas; US$79.5M Peregrine Mission Launching July 2021 To Lacus Mortis Area (44.96°N, 25.62°E) Of Moon Will Be Controlled From 1016 North Lincoln Ave, As Will 2 Moon South Pole Missions: $5.6M MoonRanger Rover (Carried By XL-1 Masten Lander Dec 2022) And $199.5M Griffin (To Deliver VIPER 2023)

Credits: Astrobotic, CMU

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 14-17 Aug 2020

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USA, China On Fast Track For Human Moon Missions Through Sustained Science, Exploration Programs

NASA LRO Surpasses 5 Years In Polar Mapping Orbit Collecting Data For Landings; Part Of Extensive Artemis SPD-1 To Achieve Humans At Moon South Pole (MSP) 2024, CLPS Program To See 1st Commercial Landings [Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines] Second Half Of 2021, Masten To MSP 2022, VIPER MSP 2023, PRIME-1 & 19D Contracts Upcoming; China / Zhongguo Chang’e-4 Operating On Farside, CE-5 Sample Return Launching 24 Nov, CE-6 Payloads Being Selected, CE-7 Collaboration With Russia Developing, CE-8 In 2027 May Be Final Robotic Landing Before Crew

Credits: NASA, CNSA, NAOC-CAS

Friday / 12 June 2020

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Artemis Awards Astrobotic US$199.5M For Moon South Pole 2023 VIPER Launch, 19D CLPS Task Order Could Be Announced In Summer

Under Task Order 20A Astrobotic Griffin Lander With 500-kg Capacity To Deliver JSC-built, 450-kg Remotely Controlled Vehicle For 20-km Mission Over 100-Earth Days To Seek Water Ice At Moon South Pole, Vital Resource For Both Human Sustenance And Separating Into Oxygen / Hydrogen For Fuel, Launch Provider Unannounced; ULA Vulcan Planning To Lift Smaller Peregrine Lander To Lunar Surface NET July 2021 On Maiden Flight

Credits:  Astrobotic Technology

Friday / 22 May 2020

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Small Student-Built Robotic Rover ‘Iris’ May Be First Ever From USA To Explore Moon

Carnegie Mellon University Developed Lunar Rover Iris, Named For 2 Onboard Video Cameras, Having Passed NASA Design Review Is Now Being Modified And Readied For Payload Integration On Peregrine Lander For July 2021 Launch; William ‘Red’ Whittaker, Professor Of CMU Robotics Institute And Astrobotic Founder Leads Team; R&D Funded By US$125,000 NASA Small Business Innovation Research Award; At ~ 2kg, Small / Inexpensive ‘CubeRover’ Class Planetary Surface Probes Reportedly To Be Marketed By Astrobotic For Future Missions

Credits: CMU, NASA, ASTROBOTIC

Tuesday / 28 April 2020

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SpaceBit Aims To Land “Arachnid-Like” Asagumo Rover Built On Modular 6U CubeSat Chassis

SpaceBit Of UK Reportedly Creating Redundant Designs Amid Global Supply Chain Uncertainty, Allowing Independent Assembly Of 1-1.3 kg Rover In USA, UK, Japan; Spacebit Mission One Striving To Meet Q3 2021 Maiden Launch Of ULA Vulcan Centaur / Astrobotic Peregrine Lander; Partnered With Yuzhnoye Design Office, Ecuadorian Space Agency, Dereum Labs Of Mexico; Pavlo Tanasyuk Signs Agreement At 3rd MVA Workshop & Symposium With Japan Company Dymon To Image Asagumo On Lunar Surface, Spacebit To Reciprocate With Picture Of Yaoki Rover

Credits: Spacebit, Astrobotic, ULA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 27-30 Mar 2020

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CLPS Enterprises Test Hardware And Compete For Upcoming Contracts

14 NASA Commercial Lunar Services Providers Are Eligible For Contracts; TALOS Thrusters Intended For Astrobotic Peregrine Lander Successfully Complete 60 Hot-Fire Tests; Firefly Aerospace Plans Orbital Launch And Builds Genesis Lander With 85-Kg Payload; Intuitive Machines Along With Astrobotic Has Task Order To Land Payloads On Lunar Surface NET July 2021; Moon Express & Other CLPS Providers Vie For Task Orders 20A To Possibly Be Awarded By 31 May To Land Volatiles Investigation Polar Exploration Rover, And 19D Expected By 30 Sep


Credits: Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, Moon Express

 

Friday / 24 January 2020

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Commercial Lunar Services Providers To Carry Payloads Aiding Astronomy And Lunar Science

NASA Finalizes 16 Experiments And Technology Demonstrations To Fly With Commercial Lunar Services Providers; Astrobotic Peregrine Lander (L) Will Carry 11 Payloads Using ULA Vulcan Launcher Including PROSPECT Ion-Trap Mass Spectrometer (C); Intuitive Machines Will Launch Nova-C Lander (R) With 5 Payloads On SpaceX Falcon 9; Radio Observations Lunar Surface (ROLSES) Low-Frequency Experiment On Nova-C Will Test Feasibility Of Large Radio Telescopes On Lunar Surface; Both Landers Will Carry Laser Retro-Reflector Arrays To Aid Navigation

Credits: NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 10-13 Jan 2020

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International Moon Landings 2020-2021 Begin Lunar Decade

Multiple Nations And Commercial Enterprises Prepare For Landings In First Years Of Lunar Decade; India Proceeding At Full Speed With Chandrayaan-3 (BR) For November 2020; China (Zhongguo) Plans Chang’e-5 (TR) NLT Dec 2020; NASA Commercial Lunar Services Providers Astrobotic And Intuitive Machines (L) Both Plan Landings NET July 2021; Chang’e-6 And Chang’e-7 Planned For Near Future; Chandrayaan-4 May Follow In Cooperation With JAXA, And Possibly Chandrayaan-5; SpaceX And Blue Origin (C) Also Plan To Land Payloads In Early 2020s

Credits: NASA, Blue Origin, CNSA, ISRO

Tuesday / 19 November 2019

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Peregrine Lander To Carry Lunar Rovers In 2021

Astrobotic, One Of Nine NASA Commercial Lunar Services Providers, Aims To Place Peregrine Lander On Moon In 2021; First USA Lunar Landing In 49 Years Will Be Launched On Upcoming United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur Booster; Astrobotic Receives US$2M Tipping Point Award To Develop Small CubeRover; UK-Based Spacebit, Founded By Pavlo Tanasyuk, Plans To Send 10-cm Tall 4-Legged Rover Capable Of Exploring Lunar Caves; NASA Announces Additional CLPS Providers Blue Origin, Ceres Robotics, Sierra Nevada Aerospace, SpaceX, And Tyvak In Monday Teleconference

Credits: Astrobotic, Spacebit, ULA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 4-7 Oct 2019

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Intuitive Machines And Astrobotic Achieve Steps Toward Landing On Lunar Surface In 2021

Houston-based Commercial Lunar Payload Services Provider Intuitive Machines Signs Contract With SpaceX For Launch Of Nova-C Lander On Falcon 9 In July 2021; 3-meter Nova-C (L) Will Carry At Least 100 Kg In Payloads, Including 5 NASA Payloads And More From Other Customers; Fellow CLPS Provider Astrobotic, Which Has Won NASA ‘Tipping Point’ Award To Develop Small Rovers, Advances Agreement To Launch Peregrine Lander On First Flight Of United Launch Alliance Vulcan Booster In 2021

Credits: Intuitive Machines, Astrobotic