Category Archives: Lunar Landers

Tuesday / 6 June 2023

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European Space Agency Director General Working to Achieve Human Launch Capability, Crewed Moon Landings

ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher makes clear his desire for Europe to achieve independent space capabilities with parity to China, USA, India including human launch / Moon landings in comments given to Financial Times, host of Investing in Space conference in London 5-6 June; Ariane 6 making inaugural launch NET 2024 could serve as basis for human-rated launch system, commercial crew-style model also being considered; ESA member nations to vote on funding proposals at November Space Summit in Seville, Spain – members currently have agreed to ~ EUR€16.9B / 3 year funding (US$18.1B)

Credits: ESA, Arianespace

Weekend Edition
Fri-Tues / 26-30 May 2023

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Blue Origin Team to Land Precursor Missions NET 2024 / 2025 Ahead of Uncrewed HLS Demo & Artemis 5

Under Sustaining Lunar Development $3.4B contract, ‘National Team’ composed of Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin, Draper, Boeing, Astrobotic and Honeybee Robotics to land uncrewed mission demonstrating life support and NRHO ascent capability followed by Artemis 5, in which 2 crew-members are to be ferried by Blue Moon lander from Gateway station to surface, aided by Cislunar Transporter LH2/LOX fuel depot NET 2029; Prior to contracted landings, 2 self-funded landings are take place NET 2024 / 2025 as part of technology maturation process; Blue Origin reportedly investing ≥ NASA’s $3.4B award in HLS

Credits: Blue Origin

Friday / 26 May 2023

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Artemis Lunar Scientists and Operations Experts Brainstorm While Clive Neal Advances Lunar Resource Utilization

How best to meet goals outlined in Artemis 3 Science Definition Report within operational constraints (e.g., 8 hours of aggregate EVA time, up to 2 hours in PSR) being considered in series of collaborative USRA / LPI Lunar Surface Science Workshops; Niki Werkheiser, Anne Garber, Cindy Evans, Sarah Noble among NASA team members engaging in science operation architecture development with 180+ participants in latest LSSW 19 on Integrating Science into Artemis; Next LSSW on lunar mapping to be held Aug 16-17; May AIAA Space Resources Webinar hosted by Clive Neal on Immediate Next Steps Towards Using Lunar Resources to Sustain Human Exploration & Drive the Cislunar Economy to be available on YouTube

Credits: ESA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 19-22 May 2023

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7 National and Independent / Commercial Lunar Landers Expected to Launch Within 1 Year

ISRO and Roscosmos targeting similar launch dates (NET 2nd week in July / 13 July respectively) and landing locations in Moon South Pole region (N / NE of Boguslavsky crater ~118km apart), for Chandrayaan-3 and Luna-25 landing missions, however Soyuz 2.1b will carry Luna-25 to direct TLI over a few days, whereas CY-3 will perform a series of Oberth raising maneuvers following LVM3 launch, resulting in ~1 month trip to orbital insertion; Astrobotic Peregrine, IM Nova-C, and JAXA SLIM striving for NET Q3 launch, IM-2 early 2024, Chang’E-6 NET May 2024

Credits: JAXA Lunar and Mars Exploration Logo Contest / Twitter @jsec_jaxa_jp

Tuesday / 16 May 2023

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Closer NASA / SpaceX Collaboration May Mitigate Environmental Controversy Around Starship Testing

Ongoing litigation pursued by Surfrider Foundation, American Bird Conservancy & others over amended 2015 environmental impact assessment under which FAA allows SpaceX to operate 20-acre Starbase facility near Boca Chica TX (25.6° N, 97.1° W) raising concerns over possible impact to NET Dec 2025 Artemis 3 human Moon landings; Environmental policy expert Eric Roesch argues Starbase is fundamentally incompatible with launch testing due to nature reserve proximity, urges NASA involvement; Kathy Lueders to join SpaceX, overseeing Starship safety

Credits: NASA, SpaceX

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 12-15 May 2023

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5 Efforts to Achieve Summer Moon Landings Underway

Chandrayaan-3 may lead ≤ 5 Moon landings during summer, with July launch via LVM 3 on track per anonymous ISRO source cited by Hindustan Times, contrary to Minister Singh statement; Roscosmos Luna-25 targeting 13 July launch to 69.55°S, 43.54°E landing site, just ~118 km away from nominal Chandrayaan-3 site at 69.37°S, 32.35°E; Intuitive Machines Nova-C now set for launchpad arrival “mid-to-late Q3” per CEO Steve Altemus; Astrobotic Peregrine launch prospects hinge on ULA Vulcan Centaur flight readiness, firing test planned for next week; JAXA SLIM is also awaiting investigation of H3 rocket failure with NET August launch

Credits: KARI, ISRO, Roscosmos, IM, Astrobotic, JAXA

Friday / 12 May 2023

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Space Professionals Express Optimism for Moon Exploration, Growing Public Support Reflected in Poll

Artemis 2 Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen links earthbound challenges (food security, healthcare, climate) to human exploration of the Moon, enabling “eight billion people to row in the same direction and work on these problems”; National Air and Space Museum curator Jennifer Levasseur tells Milwaukee Journal Sentinel she sees “palpable” increase in engagement of young people with space installations; Economist / YouGov survey confirms these sentiments, with 64% of USA adults supporting human Moon landings, with 23% favoring national leadership, 11% preferring commercial entities taking charge while 48% want a dual approach

Credits: NASA, SpaceX

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 5-8 May 2023

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Independent and National Moon Landing Missions Lining Up to Join China in Operating on the Lunar Surface

Astrobotic Peregrine may be next lunar lander to launch from Earth in June / July timeframe per ULA CEO Tory Bruno; Intuitive Machines Nova-C targeting similar date range; Roscosmos Luna-25 launching NET 13 July; JAXA SLIM launching NET August for novel precision rolling landing technique employing 3D-printed crushable legs; Intuitive Machines to launch second Nova-C before end of 2023; ISRO Chandrayaan-3 apparently delayed to NET 2024; CNSA Chang’e 6 launching NET May 2024; Astrobotic Peregrine to deliver NASA VIPER NET Nov 2024; Firefly to launch Blue Ghost NET 2024; IM to launch 3rd Nova-C NET 2024

Credits: Astrobotic, IM, Roscosmos, JAXA, CNSA, ISRO, Firefly, Twitter / @torybruno, NASA
 

Tuesday / 2 May 2023

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Streak of Moon Lander Crashes Prompts Questioning

As ispace works to determine root cause of fueling-related M1 crash, observers are left to ponder why landing on Moon has eluded all efforts in 21st Century, save for CNSA CLEP sequence Chang’E 3-5; SpaceIL Beresheet (2019) IMU failure led to ill-timed reset command, cutting main engine; ISRO Chandrayaan-2 (2019) suffered software error with similar result; JAXA OMOTENASHI (2022) semi-hard impactor lost comms with Goldstone Deep Space Station; Generally, low gravity / atmosphere and dust are challenging factors; Budget for testing / fuel margin may also contribute to lunar landing difficulty

Credits: ispace, SpaceIL / IAI, ISRO, JAXA
 

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 28 Apr – 1 May 2023

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5 Space Agency / Independent Moon Landing Missions to Launch in Coming Months

Astrobotic Peregrine awaiting ULA launch readiness NET June following Centaur V anomaly; NPO Lavochkin preparing to transport Roscosmos Luna-25 to Vostochny Cosmodrome in first 10 days of June ahead of NET 13 July launch; Intuitive Machines aiming for summer launch of Nova-C; JAXA SLIM launching NET August pending investigation of probable short circuit / engine leak cause of H3 failure; ISRO Chandrayaan-3 pushed to 2024 per comments given by Union Minister Jitendra Singh; Lunar aspirants may consider consultation / collaboration with only successful 21st Century Moon surface operators at CNSA

Credits: Astrobotic, Roscosmos, IM, JAXA, ISRO, CNSA