The first private landing module in history launched to the Moon

On January 8, the Vulcan Centaur rocket carrying the Peregrine lunar lander went into space from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport in Florida. This is reported by the Russian service “Voice of America”.

Peregrine (eng. “peregrine falcon”) was developed by Astrobotic Technology. In the event of a successful landing on the surface of the Earth’s natural satellite, it will become the first lunar landing module created by a private company in history.

According to the plan, the device should land on the Moon on February 23. The module, about two meters high and two and a half meters wide, will deliver cargo to the moon, including scientific instruments for NASA, a stone from Mount Everest, as well as the ashes of the creator of the Star Trek series Gene Roddenberry and science fiction writer Arthur Clarke.

In addition to scientific cargo, Peregrine carries to the lunar orbit many objects that have a rather symbolic and cultural value. Among them are the DNA of a goat and an arctic tern, blood samples of 33 artists, hundreds of images, poems and musical works, maps, river and ocean water. A round plate symbolizing one bitcoin also went to Luna

The agreement on Peregrine Mission One (the official name of the project) between Astrobotic and United Launch Alliance, the developer of the Vulcan Centaur rocket, was reached back in 2017 – after that, the launch date changed several times. At the end of December 2023, Astrobotic management announced that the module was “ready for launch and landing.”

According to the plan, after landing on February 23, the module will work on the Moon for at least 192 hours.

NASA allocated money to two private companies for the construction of lunar modules in order to survey the area of ​​the Moon, to which it is planned to send a manned mission later. Astrobotic Technology received $108 million to build Peregrine.

In addition, the American government, which partially finances the project, is pinning its hopes on the Vulcan launch vehicle, which should replace the aging Atlas V and Delta IV rockets.

It is expected that Vulcan will become one of the main heavy rockets used by the USA to launch reconnaissance satellites, space troops, and commercial projects.