Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander defies all odds and remains in orbit

Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander remains in orbit, and the company said there is “increasing optimism” that the spacecraft may survive in space for longer than current estimates.

The Pittsburgh-based startup has been posting a series of updates on social media platform X since the spacecraft launched early Monday morning. Engineers immediately began encountering problems shortly after separation from United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur launch vehicle. Ultimately, the problems revealed a severe fuel leak in the spacecraft’s propellant system.

But despite the difficulties, the “Peregrine Falcon” has been operating in space for more than four days, and the remaining operating time is expected to continue to be extended. Two days ago, Astrobotic said the spacecraft had about 36 hours of propellant remaining; But todaythe company updated its estimate to 52 hours left as leaks continue to slow.

Astrobotic also managed to receive critical data from the many payloads on board, including science payloads from NASA, the German Aerospace Center and the European Space Agency. The company said yesterday it had received data from all payloads designed to communicate with the lander and had provided power to the ten required. The remaining ten payloads on board are passive and do not require power or communications from the spacecraft.

“These payloads have now been able to demonstrate operational capability in space and the payload team is analyzing the implications of this development,” Astrobotic said in a statement. “We provided the mission team with the opportunity to achieve this under such challenging circumstances. Incredible feat of pride.”

While a soft landing on the moon is still not possible, and a shortened service life due to leaks is still a certainty, an extended service life will undoubtedly still be a boon to the Astrobotic team and payload contributors.