Category Archives: CLPS

Tuesday / 16 April 2024

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ispace Japan and USA, Luxembourg Subsidiaries Preparing for Second and Third Moon Landing Missions

Resilience lunar lander being readied at Tsukuba JAXA facility as micro rover (1 of 5 manifested payloads to be delivered on HAKUTO-R Mission 2 NET Q4 2024), progresses to flight model build phase following successful testing of qualification model by ispace Luxembourg affiliate; Micro rover is key equipment for fulfillment of NASA regolith purchase under which both ispace Japan and USA were awarded precedent-setting $5,000 contracts; ispace USA also partnering with Draper on APEX 1.0 lander under CLPS contract, and will work with Raytheon subsidiary Blue Canyon Technologies to deploy 2 ‘Venus class’ cis-lunar relay satellites during NET 2026 mission

Pictured: (L-R) ispace-U.S. CEO Ron Garan, ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada, Ispace-Europe engineer; Credits: ispace

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 23-26 Feb 2024

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IM-1 Commercial Moon Lander Odysseus Functioning and Receiving Power Despite Tip Over

The first USA craft to reach the lunar surface in 51+ years in communication with 100% battery charge ~2-3 km from intended landing site (80.2°S, 1.0°E), however orientation is off-nominal, with the 6-legged, phone box-sized lander thought to be resting on its side with ‘Panel E’ (with passive Moon Phases art installation mounted) facing down; Descent data from NASA payloads RFMG, NDL, LN-1 and SCALPSS awaiting transmission, as is imagery from independent astronomy payload ILO-X; EagleCam still planned to be deployed to record Odysseus; Precise position and location of Odysseus to be determined via LRO

 

Credits: Intuitive Machines

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 16-19 Feb 2024

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Intuitive Machines Overcoming Obstacles While Operating in Space on Route to Moon

Nova-C class lander Odysseus is ‘in excellent health, in a stable orientation’ and on track for 22 Feb soft landing attempt ~300-km from Moon South Pole despite several trials: intermittent comms, a slight star tracker miscalibration ameliorated via software update, and variance in LOX line chill time in space vs Earth (Odysseus being only the second LCH4 / LOX craft to operate in space following LandSpace Zhuque-2 in Dec 2023) for which adjustments have been made; Commissioning Burn originally expected within first day of transit to be conducted shortly

Credits: Intuitive Machines

Friday / 16 Feb 2024

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Commercial USA IM-1 Lander Odysseus on Direct Course for Moon

Intuitive Machines of Houston TX working around the clock to achieve first USA Moon landing in 21st century and first commercial landing ever with Nova-C ‘Odie’ on Trans-Lunar Orbit (TLO); Odie is expected to archive Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) on 21 Feb, followed by landing site near the eastern rim of Malapert A crater (80.2°S, 1.0°E) 22 Feb; Carrying 6 NASA and 6 independent payloads under $118M NASA CLPS contract + undisclosed private freight charges, the IM-1 mission was inspired by Space Policy Directive-1 per CEO Steve Altemus; SPD-1 calls for public-private and international partnerships to ‘enable human expansion across the solar system’

Credits: SpaceX, Intuitive Machines, LinkedIn

Tuesday / 13 Feb 2024

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Lunar Wave of Exploration Set to Continue with International Commercial and National Landers in 2024

As CLPS provider Intuitive Machines readies for first USA Moon surface mission in 51 years (delivery readiness media teleconference 13 Feb 13:30 EST, launch coverage 14 Feb 00:15 EST), other efforts are also in the pipeline: 8,200-kg CNSA Chang’E-6 is expected to launch to lunar far side (~43.0°S, ~154.0°W) NET May with Queqiao-2 relay orbiter launching NET March; IM-2 may follow with launch to Shackleton connecting ridge (89.5°S, 51.3°W) NET Q2; Firefly Blue Ghost M1 planning NET Q3 launch to Mare Crisium (17.0°N 59.1°E); Astrobotic launching Griffin to Mons Mouton (84.6°S 31.0°W) NET November; ispace Hakuto-R Mission 2 and IM-3 may also launch before EOY

Credits: IM, CNSA, Firefly, Astrobotic, ispace

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 19-22 Jan 2024

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Astrobotic Looking Forward as Intuitive Machines Prepares its Effort to Land First Commercial Mission on Moon

The first attempted USA commercial lunar lander has returned to Earth, reentering over the South Pacific with undetermined wreckage possibly resting near 23.087°S, 176.594°E ~450 km south of Kadavu (Fiji) and east of Aneityum (Vanuatu) Islands; Despite propellant leak which prevented Moon landing, “There’s a lot that worked” on Peregrine Mission 1, Astrobotic CEO John Thornton told media at joint NASA press conference, while the final mission update declares Peregrine has flown so Griffin may land; Intuitive Machines IM-1 is the next (of up to 9) scheduled CLPS missions, with Nova-C launch window set to open NET 11 Feb; CEO Steve Altemus envisions infrastructure business model “where the company plays the same role as highways, railroads, and shipping lanes are for Earth, but at the moon [sic]” per interview with Spectrum News in Orlando

Credits: Astrobotic

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 1-4 Dec 2023

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USA Returns to the Moon, Part 1: Commercial Lunar Payload Services

Two Moon landings from USA, first in 51 years, set for new year; Astrobotic Peregrine launching NET Dec 24 / landing NET 25 Jan, Intuitive Machines Nova-C launching NET 12 Jan / landing NET 17 Jan; Both missions are independent efforts with NASA support through CLPS, conceived in May 2018 as commercial alternative to proposed Resource Prospector cancelled in April 2018; The $2.6B / 10-year program announced Nov 2018, with first awards including Astrobotic US$79.5M (TO2-AB), Intuitive Machines $77M (TO2-IM), with initial expected launch in July 2021; In total 8 CLPS landing missions are slated for launch between 2024-2026

Credits: Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, NASA

Thanksgiving Holiday Edition
Thurs-Mon / 23-27 Nov 2023

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A Robust International Moon Landing Schedule in First Half 2024

JAXA Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) lander, Astrobotic Peregrine and Intuitive Machines Nova-C Odysseus are slated to land on near side of Moon NET Jan 2024: SLIM is currently in low-energy transfer targeting 100-m landing site near Shioli crater (13.3°S) mid-Jan, Peregrine awaiting ULA Vulcan Centaur launch from KSC NET 24 Dec with late Jan landing near Gruithuisen Domes (36.56°N), Nova-C working toward late Nov shipping from TX to FL for NET 12 Jan launch on SpaceX F9 to 5-7 day direct transfer for mid-Jan landing near Malapert-A (80.3°S); CNSA Chang’E-6 to launch on Long March 5 NET May 2024 to Apollo crater within far side SPA Basin (43.0°S)

Picutred: SLIM Project Manager Shinichiro Sakai, Astrobotic CEO John Thornton, IM CEO Stephen Altemus, CLEP Designer Sun Jiadong; Credits: JAXA, Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, CNSA, Linkedin

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 10-13 Nov 2023

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4 Lunar Lander Companies Working to Support USA Return to the Moon / Artemis Under NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Service

CLPS providers currently under contract to land NASA and independent payloads on Moon are Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, Firefly and Draper: Astrobotic Peregrine awaiting launch from KSC to Gruithuisen Domes NET 24 Dec, Griffin lander to carry VIPER NET Nov 2024; Intuitive Machines targeting 12 Jan launch of Nova-C to Malapert A and again in 2024 to deliver PRIME-1 drill to Shackleton connecting ridge; Firefly Blue Ghost scheduled to land in Mare Crisium NET 2024 and on the lunar farside NET 2026, delivering radio astronomy LuSEE-Night and SPIDER seismometer; Draper is also targeting Schrödinger Basin on far side NET 2025 with APEX 1.0 lander built in collaboration with ispace USA

Credits: Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, Firefly, Draper, NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 15-18 Sep 2023

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Lunar Mission Cadence Not Letting Up with Japan on Route to Moon, USA CLPS Preparing for Launch

ISRO awaits possible reactivation of Vikram Lander / Pragyan rover 22 September; JAXA SLIM operating nominally following post-launch systems checks with trajectory to Moon within precise range, allowing controllers to forego a planned fine-tuning maneuver; NASA CLPS providers Intuitive Machines and Astrobotic enlarging their Earth-bound organizational footprints with expanded facilities while working towards NET 16 November and TBD launches; CNSA Chang’E-6 sample retrieval sites within Apollo-crater being considered for NET May 2024; ispace and SpaceIL working towards realization HAKUTO-R mission 2 and Beresheet 2

Credits: ISRO, JAXA, Intuitive Machines, Astrobotic, ispace, SpaceIL