Astrobotic’s Peregrine Mission One did not land on the Moon. A propulsion-system failure left it unable to maintain the pressure needed for a lunar landing, so the company and NASA ended the mission with a controlled re-entry over the South Pacific on Jan. 18, 2024. Astrobotic’s later investigation identified a helium valve that most likely failed to seal as the initiating problem. Before re-entry, four of NASA’s five payloads powered on and collected data in flight.
What happened to the Peregrine lunar lander?
Peregrine Mission One launched from Cape Canaveral on Jan. 8, 2024, aboard United Launch Alliance’s first Vulcan rocket. It was the first commercial vendor mission launched to the Moon under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, whose goal was to deliver NASA payloads to the lunar surface. Peregrine’s primary objective was a Moon landing.
After launch, the spacecraft activated its avionics and power management systems and established communications through NASA’s Deep Space Network. The anomaly emerged during propulsion-system commissioning. The lander continued operating with a compromised propulsion system, but its landing objective was no longer achievable.
On Jan. 14, NASA said the propulsion issue would prevent a soft landing and that a controlled return was the best way to conclude the mission safely. At that point, NASA said it was too early to determine the root cause. Astrobotic’s review board published its later analysis in August 2024.
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Why did Peregrine fail to land?
Astrobotic’s review board identified the most likely cause as a failure of helium pressure control valve PCV2 to seal after it was actuated. The board attributed the likely mechanical failure to vibration-initiated relaxation between threaded components inside the valve. This is the board’s most likely explanation, supported by ground testing—not a finding from direct post-flight inspection of the spacecraft.
How the valve failure affected the lander
- After PCV2 was actuated, helium flowed uncontrollably into the oxidizer tank.
- The added pressure rapidly overpressurized and ruptured the tank.
- Oxidizer leaked for the remainder of the mission, compromising the propulsion system.
- Without the pressure needed for a lunar landing, Astrobotic abandoned the landing objective.
To investigate, Astrobotic tested a spare valve under similar conditions and produced a comparable leak. Disassembly of that valve found a loosened threaded joint and a damaged primary seating O-ring. The review board’s investigation was chaired by independent third-party investigator Dr. John Horack of Ohio State University and involved 34 government, industry and in-house subject-matter experts. Astrobotic published its findings in its Aug. 27, 2024 announcement and post-mission report.
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Why did Peregrine burn up over the Pacific?
Astrobotic decided on Jan. 13, in consultation with NASA, to end the mission and avoid the possibility of debris proliferating in cislunar space. The agencies chose a controlled re-entry over open water in the South Pacific as a responsible way to dispose of the spacecraft. NASA reported that Peregrine re-entered at approximately 4:04 p.m. EST on Jan. 18, 2024. The planned re-entry was not an uncontrolled crash.
NASA’s mission conclusion announcement gives the spacecraft’s time in space as 10 days and 13 hours. Astrobotic’s report instead describes 10 days and 14 hours of spacecraft operation, and says Peregrine traveled more than 535,000 miles. These are the respective organizations’ figures and descriptions.
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Did Peregrine make it to the Moon, and what data did it return?
Peregrine did not land on the Moon, and its intended lunar-surface operations did not take place. But the failed landing did not mean the mission returned no data: NASA said four of its five payloads powered on and collected data during flight.
| NASA payload | What happened |
|---|---|
| Linear Energy Transfer Spectrometer (LETS) | Powered on and collected flight data |
| Near-Infrared Volatile Spectrometer System (NIRVSS) | Powered on and collected flight data |
| Neutron Spectrometer System (NSS) | Powered on and collected flight data |
| Peregrine Ion-Trap Mass Spectrometer (PITMS) | Powered on and collected flight data |
| Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) | Passive instrument requiring lunar-surface operations; it did not perform its intended surface role |
NASA said preliminary data suggested instruments measured natural radiation and chemical compounds around the lander. Science teams were still interpreting the results when NASA announced the mission’s conclusion, so the in-flight data should not be confused with completion of every payload’s intended science objectives. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said, “Space exploration is a daring task, and the science and spaceflight data collected from Astrobotic’s lunar lander is better preparing NASA for future CLPS deliveries and crewed missions under Artemis.”
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What Peregrine’s mission says about early commercial lunar delivery
Peregrine was an early test of NASA’s approach to buying lunar delivery services from commercial companies, not a consumer spacecraft or a routine cargo run. NASA’s Office of Inspector General described technical and program risks facing CLPS vendors, including challenges with lander propulsion engines, propellant tanks and avionics. Its June 2024 report discussed Peregrine’s apparent leak and Astrobotic’s then-current valve hypothesis; Astrobotic’s later review provides the more developed account of the likely failure mechanism.
The mission’s outcome has to be read in two parts: the lunar landing failed, while some instruments still operated during flight and the vehicle was disposed of through a planned, controlled re-entry. NASA associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate Nicola Fox said on Jan. 14, before the later root-cause report, “Spaceflight is an unforgiving environment, and we commend Astrobotic for its perseverance and making every viable effort to collect data and show its capabilities of Peregrine while in flight.”
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Sources: NASA mission conclusion, Jan. 19, 2024; NASA update, Jan. 14, 2024; Astrobotic review announcement, Aug. 27, 2024; Astrobotic Peregrine Mission One Post-Mission Report, August 2024; NASA Office of Inspector General, IG-24-013, June 2024.
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