How to watch Astrobotic’s history-making Peregrine lunar lander launch

Should all go according to plan in the earliest hours of Monday morning, Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander will finally launch after months of anticipation.

The six-and-a-half-week trip that would culminate in the first commercial moon landing is set to take off Jan. 8 at 2:18 a.m.

The Peregrine will be on board United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan Rocket, alongside Carnegie Mellon University’s student-built Iris rover. Weighing roughly four pounds, the Iris will be the first American-developed rover, the first lunar rover not produced by a national agency, and the first student-made rover to land on the moon.

North Side-based Astrobotic originally planned for a May 4 launch, and then a Christmas Eve date when that was postponed due to issues during testing. Now, after trial and error on ULA’s part, Astrobotic says the Peregrine lunar lander has completed all integration milestones and after completing all its final checkouts, the Peregrine spacecraft is ready to launch.

“If you’ve been following the lunar industry, you understand landing on the Moon’s surface is incredibly difficult. With that said, our team has continuously surpassed expectations and demonstrated incredible ingenuity during flight reviews, spacecraft testing, and major hardware integrations,” Astrobotic CEO John Thornton said in an announcement in December 2023. “We are ready for launch, and for landing.”

But even if you’re not employed by Astrobotic or CMU, you’ll still have the opportunity to see the launch: Night owls can virtually watch the festivities, free of charge, through NASA TV. During this mission, the plan is for ULA to send Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander to deliver NASA and other commercial payloads (aka objects sent to outer space by means of a launch vehicle) on this flight to the lunar surface.

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Here’s what happens once the rocket is launched, according to Astrobotic:

“About 40 minutes after separation from ULA’s Vulcan rocket, Peregrine’s propulsion system will activate and begin receiving commands from Astrobotic’s Mission Control Center. One of the first commands will initiate thrusters to point Peregrine’s solar panels at the Sun to begin charging its battery. During cruise, the team will orchestrate trajectory adjustment maneuvers in Earth orbit before lunar orbit insertion.”

The lander is scheduled to reach the moon on Feb. 23.

Experts preview the science that will be aboard the first commercial robotic launch to the Moon with @Astrobotic. These instruments will help set the stage for future #Artemis missions. https://t.co/DexaAZanRb

— NASA (@NASA) January 4, 2024

Thornton feels this launch will be a culmination of years of hard work, partnerships, and support of people and entities inside and outside of Pittsburgh.

“As I look back on Astrobotic’s accomplishments over the past year, I’m filled with gratitude for our customers, vendors, stakeholders, community partners, government officials, and of course, our team, who have been integral to our mission of making space accessible to the world,” Thornton said. “Just enough people believed in our mission, and in us, to get us to where we are today.”

Atiya Irvin-Mitchell is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Heinz Endowments.