Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar lander remains in orbit, and the company said it is "increasingly optimistic" that the spacecraft may survive in space longer than currently estimated. The Pittsburgh-based startup has been posting a series of updates on social media platform X since the spacecraft launched early Monday morning.
Shortly after separation from the launch vehicle, United Launch Alliance's Vulcan, engineers began encountering problems. Ultimately, these problems revealed a serious fuel leak in the spacecraft's propellant system.
Despite this, the "Peregrine Falcon" has been operating in space for more than four days, and the remaining operating time is expected to continue to extend. Two days ago, Astrobotic said the spacecraft had about 36 hours of propellant left; but today, the company updated that estimate to 52 hours as the leak continues to slow.
Astrobotic also managed to receive critical data from many of the payloads on board the spacecraft, 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 provided power to 10 payloads that required power. The remaining 10 payloads on the spacecraft are passive and do not require power or communications from the spacecraft.
"These payloads have now been able to demonstrate their ability to operate in space, and the payload team is analyzing the implications of this development," Astrobotic said in a statement. "We are proud of the mission team for achieving this incredible feat under such challenging circumstances."
While a soft landing on the moon has yet to be achieved, and lifespan shortening due to leaks is a certainty, extended operational life will undoubtedly remain a boon to the Astrobotic team and payload contributors.