Category Archives: Lunar Landers

Friday / 23 May 2025

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Astrobotic Announces Power Technology Breakthrough for Surviving Lunar Night

 Wireless charging is now commercially available for space applications, furthering Astrobotic goal “to make space accessible to the world”; 125W of power to rovers or astronaut-held tools will transfer from lander or Vertical Solar Array Technology platform, whether covered in 4cm of regolith dust, at -180°C, vibrating, or in an electromagnetic field with virtually no atmosphere; Astrobotic led WiBotic, Bosch, University of Washington and NASA Glenn in development, for ~54 months, under US$5.7M NASA Tipping Point contract; 400W system is in the works

Credits: Astrobotic

Friday / 16 May 2025

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ispace Lander in Lunar Orbit, 20 Days Ahead of Anticipated Moon Landing

 ispace 340-kg lunar craft Resilience in stable Moon orbit due to ~9-minute main thruster burn ahead of final maneuvers before anticipated 5 Jun (UTC) touchdown near Mare Frigoris with 5-kg rover Tenacious; rover will shovel regolith, analyze and send data; ispace aiming to fulfill US$5,000 NASA Lunar Regolith Transfer Contract; Resilience also carries water electrolyzer, food production experiment with algae, Moonhouse by artist Mikael Genberg, deep space radiation probe, UNESCO memory disk, commemorative plaque based on Charter of the Universal Century fictional document from Japanese science fiction franchise Gundam

Credits: ispace-Inc

Friday / 9 May 2025

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India Moon Science, Future Missions Highlighted at IAF GLEX, New Delhi

Vyomanaut in training, Ajit Krishnan returns from IAF GLEX ongoing in New Delhi where India Moon and Solar System Complete mission science is being discussed; Chandrayaan-4 sample return lander to Statio Shiv Shakti NET 2027; Gaganyaan human Moon mission 8.2 t orbital module will carry 3 atop HLVM3, 1st flight Q1 2027; Chandrayaan-3 was 1st lander near South Pole region, making India 4th country with soft landing, rover also successful; Chandrayaan-2 orbiter continues to analyze Moon atmosphere, surface and subsurface; Chandrayaan-1 orbiter confirmed surface water

Credits: ISRO, NASA, PTI

Tuesday / 6 May 2025

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Astrobotic Technology Aims for Moon Landing by Dec 2025

Astrobotic Griffin-1 lunar lander Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) technologies critical for soft Moon landing show themselves reliably successful in Mojave CA test; rocks / small craters down to 15 cm detected and avoided by camera and LiDAR, in Hazard Detection and Avoidance and Terrain Relative Navigation systems; scan area ~1,000,000 sq m (>2,200 football fields) allows safest specific site and landing accuracy within 50 m radius; landing expected in Nobile region near Moon South Pole with Astrolab FLIP rover by end of 2025

Credits: Astrobotic Technology, NASA

Tuesday / 29 April 2025

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Firefly Aerospace Shares Knowledge Gained from Blue Ghost Moon Lander

Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost US$101M Mission 1 operated 2-16 Mar on Moon at Mare Crisium with 10 CLPS payloads; 7 automated engine burns navigated constantly changing center of gravity for landing; completed 100% of mission objectives, operated 14.4 days, 5 hours into lunar night; lunar noon at 121°C hotter than expected due to reflection off nearby crater wall, changing X-band antenna angle allowed shade to re-establish radio operation; radiators and more batteries could allow future landers to operate components through lunar night

Credits: Firefly Aerospace

Tuesday / 15 April 2025

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New ispace-U.S. CEO Elizabeth Kryst Signs 2 Memorandums of Understanding

40th Space Symposium was backdrop for 2 announced collaborations; ispace-U.S. will work with Zeno Power, Tyler Bernstein Co-Founder / CEO, to develop technologies enabling survival of lunar night; demo mission planned NET 2027 with ispace APEX 1.0 next-generation lander (using Resilience-learned knowledge) and Zeno Power radioisotope power system (RPS) providing continuous, reliable heat / electricity via nuclear that solar panels cannot, during the 14-day lunar night at –173°C; ispace will work with Redwire (NYSE:RDW), President Mike Gold, 1 of 14 prime holders of CLPS IDIQ (indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity) contracts, worth US$2.6B, to pursue future CLPS contracts

Credit: ispace 

Tuesday / 18 March 2025

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ispace Has On-Track Mission, Receives Increased Award from Draper

ispace Hakuto-R Mission 2 aims to accomplish mission milestone 6 of 10 when it completes deep-space orbital maneuvers 24 April, affirming survivability there, ahead of 6 Jun landing at Mare Frigoris ~60°N; ispace business mission is to construct a sustainable Earth-Moon ecosystem implementing space resources; Hakuto-R is a multinational commercial lunar exploration program, includes payload development for lunar orbiting and landing; non-profit R&D company Draper releases US$7.7M additional funding to ispace-U.S. from its US$73M NASA CLPS award, for design of APEX 1.0 lander going NET 2026 H2 to Schrödinger Basin, ~75°S on Moon far side

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Credits: ispace, Draper

Friday / 14 March 2025

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First-ever Commercial Lander View of Earth Eclipsing Sun from Surface of Moon

During upcoming lunar eclipse on Earth, Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost parked on Moon at Mare Crisium near Apollo 11 Mare Tranquillitatis exploration area is expected to capture the first images by a robotic lander of a total solar eclipse; Earth will mostly block the Sun but leave halo / ring / rim of red around perimeter; Moon surface expected to look red; maximum totality at Firefly Texas control room is 01:18 CDT 14 Mar; eclipse will last 6 hrs 3 mins, with 65 mins of totality; Blue Ghost will rely on batteries rather than solar panels

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Credits: Firefly Aerospace, Stellarium / Bob King

Tuesday / 11 March 2025

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8 of 10 Payload Objectives Met by Firefly Blue Ghost Lander on Moon

Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost lander completing 8 of 10 CLPS payload objectives since 2 March arrival at Mare Crisium, other 2 expected; LISTER drilling 3 meters to resume after solar noon >120°C air temp; LEXI to attempt imaging Earth magnetosphere; Lunar PlanetVac manipulating regolith; RAC determining regolith accumulation on surfaces; LMS using electrical resistivity to determine rock composition; SCALPSS sending images; RadPC resisting radiation; EDS removing dust; NGLR reflecting laser pulses; LuGRE receiving GPS and satellite signals; Blue Ghost cameras will attempt capture of upcoming eclipse and sunset

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Credits: Firefly Aerospace

Tuesday / 4 March 2025

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Moon Landings in Focus at Event 7 March, Astronomy from Mauna Kea in Hawai’i

7 Mar sees Maunakea Moon Viewing with Lecture conducted by International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA) at The Onizuka Center for International Astronomy Visitor Information Station (VIS) on Mauna Kea; Moon observation focus includes expected 6 Mar landing site of Intuitive Machines IM-2 Athena ~160 km from Moon South Pole and ILOA lunar South Pole-region missions, which include upcoming ILO-1 mission; Maunakea is important in the traditions of Hawai’I, a wahi pana, a place of cultural, spiritual and archaeological significance

Credits: reddit, University of Hawai’i at Hilo