Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 10-13 Feb 2023

Independent / Commercial and National Moon Missions Working to Join Chang’E-3 & 4 Operating on Lunar Surface

ispace striving to conduct 1st commercial activity on Moon with landing of Hakuto-R, collection of regolith under US$5,000 NASA contract; ispace Lead Spaceflight Operations Engineer Angel Milagro updates on M1 progress (now 1,200,000 km from Earth), on track for April landing; JAXA SLIM launching NET April to Shioli crater; Ars Technica forecasts Astrobotic launch to Gruithuisen Domes NET May; ISRO Chandrayaan-3 targeting plain between Manzinus N and U craters NET June; Intuitive Machines launching to MSP on SpaceX F9 NET late June; Roscosmos Luna-25 may launch to Boguslawsky crater NET July

Credits: ispace, JAXA, IM, Astrobotic, LinkedIn

Friday / 3 Feb 2023

India and USA Advance Cooperation on Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS), Human Spaceflight, Space Science

Several areas of space collaboration between nations to be nurtured following first meeting of U.S.-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) in Washington DC: CLPS providers to meet with India commercial space companies to identify partnership opportunities; Astronaut exchange will see an ISRO astronaut undergoing training at JSC; Purview of Professional Engineer & Scientist Exchange Program to include space science; U.S. Commerce and India Space departments to lead commercial working group; iCET to solidify details at next meeting in New Delhi within 2023

Pictured: USA National Security Advisor Jacob Sullivan, India National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Scientific Advisor to the Prime Minister Ajay Kumar Sood, ISRO Chairman S Somanath; Credits: @IndianEmbassyUS via Twitter

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 23-26 Sep 2022

International Assortment of Robotic Landers Preparing for Launch to Lunar Surface

ispace Hakuto-R reportedly set to launch on SpaceX F9 during 9–15 Nov window, carrying UAE Rashid 1 rover to Moon on 3-month low-energy trajectory; Astrobotic holding to Q4 Peregrine launch amid USSF statement that BE-4 successfully demonstrated full engine performance, raising hopes for timely integration with ULA Vulcan Centaur launch vehicle; Intuitive Machines aiming for Q1 2023 Nova-C launch via SpaceX F9; ISRO Chandrayaan-3 to launch on GSLV NET Feb 2023; JAXA SLIM targeting March 2023 for launch on H-IIA

Credits: JAXA, IM, Astrobotic, ISRO, ispace

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 24-27 June 2022

2022 Summer Around Moon About to Commence, Surface Landers Soon to Follow

Instantaneous launch window for CAPSTONE lunar orbit pathfinder set at 22:00 NZST, with live NASA coverage starting 1 hour prior; Artemis 1 mega Moon rocket deemed ready after 4th WDR reaches T-29 seconds, ship is returning to VAB for final launch preparations / hydrogen leak repair before possible 23 August inaugural launch to Moon DRO; Astrobotic CLPS Moon lander Peregrine may be first USA lander since Apollo if Q4 2022 goal is met; Astrobotic Mission 1 to carry international commercial payloads from Germany, Japan, Seychelles, Hungary, Mexico, UK, USA + 11 NASA experiments

Credits: NASA, Rocket Lab, Astrobotic

Friday / 24 June 2022

NASA Adds Lunar Flashlight & Trailblazer to IM-1/2 Manifests, Studying Moon Fission

6U, 14kg JPL cubesat Lunar Flashlight, formerly to launch with Artemis 1, now riding with CLPS mission Intuitive Machines-1 scheduled for 22 Dec 2022 launch; Flashlight to scout for water ice with 4 near-IR lasers while demonstrating ‘green’ propellant AF-M315E; 200kg Lunar Trailblazer moved from IMAP rideshare NET 2025 to IM-2, scheduled for mid-2023 launch; Trailblazer to utilize HVM3 spectrometer based on M3, with sufficient resolution to identify hydroxl vs molecular water, and Lunar Thermal Mapper; IX (IM + X-Energy) teamed with Maxar & Boeing to study lunar nuclear power, receiving $5M DOE award for ~1 year study along with Lockheed Martin, Westinghouse awardees

Credits: NASA, IM, JPL, Caltech

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 3-6 June 2022

Summer Around the Moon: 3 Orbiters May Embark as NASA Funds New Private Sector Lunar R&D

NASA CAPSTONE targeting 13-22 June launch window; KARI Danuri set for 2 Aug, NASA Artemis 1 team working to achieve WDR 19 June then NET Aug launch; Vessels are bound for ~1,609×70,006km NRHO, elliptical 100km polar orbit, and 100×61,155km DRO respectively; NASA PRISM science proposals Lunar-VISE (investigation of Gruithuisen Domes), LEIA (study of yeast exposed to lunar environment) to receive CLPS task orders for launch circa 2026; NASA SSTR awarding US$150K to Air Company Holdings / NYU for development of RP-1 production process using only CO2 / H2; NASA Break the Ice Lunar Challenge phase 2 distributing $3M for water harvesting tech

Credits: NASA, KARI

Tuesday / 5 April 2022

Robotic Lunar Lander Peregrine, Set to Land Within Lacus Mortis in 2022, To Be Presented

Astrobotic working to complete Peregrine lander at 4,645-m2 Pittsburgh HQ, flight model to be unveiled at Keystone Space Collaborative Inaugural Conference (20-21 April) at Carnegie Science Center alongside Axiom, Redwire, Sierra, Voyager; CMU holding crowdfunding effort for Moonshot Mission Control, where 2-kg Iris (Astrobotic, 2022) and 19-kg Moonranger (Masten, 2023) lunar rovers are to be remotely controlled – donations of ≤US$100 rewarded with supporters’ name flown to Moon; Blue Origin partnering with GE Aviation subsidiary Unison Industries for design / manufacture of engines including BE-4 for ULA Vulcan Centaur

 

Credits: Astrobotic, CMU, NASA

Friday / 25 March 2022

NASA CLPS Lunar Lander Providers Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines Advancing Moon Exploration and Commerce

Recipients of first 3 CLPS Task Orders, scheduled to land on Moon within 2022, Astrobotic of Pittsburgh (TO-1 / Lacus Mortis / US$79.5M) and Intuitive Machines of Houston (TO-2 / Vallis Schröteri / $77M, TO-3 / MSP / $47M) leading effort to return USA robotic landers to Moon surface; Astrobotic awaiting flight readiness of ULA Vulcan Centaur, itself waiting on pair of Blue Origin BE-4 engines reportedly on track for delivery, enabling 2022 launch per ULA CEO; Intuitive Machines CTO tells panel at SXSW that Houston is “the place to be” to benefit from space commercialization; Pennsylvania Gov Tom Wolf and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo tout Astrobotic / CMU economic benefits to region

 

Credits: Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 11-14 March 2022

Lunar Fleet Buildup Advances as 7 Landers and 3 Orbital Missions Prepare for Launch

Wet Dress Rehearsal (propellant loading, countdown sequencing) of flagship ‘Mega Moon Rocket’ SLS expected 17 March at KSC Launch Pad 39B pending NASA test readiness review / subsequent press conference March 14 and inaugural launch to Moon orbit NET May; Rocket Lab Capstone orbiter launch window now set for 3-15 May; Intuitive Machines IM-1 launching NET June; Roscosmos Luna-25 NET 23 July; ISRO Chandrayaan-3 NET Aug; Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter NET 1 Aug; ispace HAKUTO-R NET Oct, Astrobotic Peregrine Mission One NET Nov; IM-2 NET Dec, JAXA SLIM launching late 2022

Credits: NASA, Rocket Lab, IM, Roscosmos, ISRO, KARI, ispace, Astrobotic; JAXA

Friday / 3 December 2021

Long-theorized Planetary Hopper Concept to be Tested on Lunar Surface NET Q4 2022

Seeking to overcome range constraints of single-landing craft and speed limitations of ground rovers, international science engineering teams utilizing computer modelling promote alternative rocket ‘hopper’ concept first used on Lunar surface during Surveyor 6 (1967) and Pogo-stick style locomotion; NASA CLPS lunar lander provider Intuitive Machines is to carry Micro-Nova, capable of traversing 2.4km with 900 gram payload capacity, on IM-2 mission near Shackleton Rim; Micro-Nova may allow investigation of otherwise inaccessible PSRs, thought to contain water ice

Credits: NASA, Intuitive Machines