Astrobotic Technology is an American company that develops space robotics technology for lunar and planetary missions. It was founded in 2008 by Carnegie Mellon professor Red Whittaker and his associates. They had the goal of winning the Google Lunar X Prize. The company is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (population about 300,000).
Astrobotic’s Moon Lander is called the Peregrine lunar lander. The launch of it is expected to happen in July 2021 on a Vulcan Centaur rocket. The Vulcan is a next generation heavy-lift-launch vehicle. The production of this flight hardware is currently happening. It is under development by the ULA (United Launch Alliance). It will meet the demands of the United States Air Force’s NSSL (National Security Space Launch) competition and launch program.
Vulcan Centaur is the successor to ULA's hard-working Atlas V rocket. Atlas V has launched many high-profile spacecraft over the years, including NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, New Horizons Pluto probe and OSIRIS-REx asteroid mission. ULA has been developing the Vulcan since 2014. Other companies, such as Sierra Nevada Corp, also want to commit to the Vulcan Centaur.
No comments:
Post a Comment