Astrobotic Technology

Astrobotic Technology is an American privately held company that is developing space robotics technology for lunar and planetary missions. It was founded in 2007 by Carnegie Mellon professor Red Whittaker and his associates, with the goal of winning the Google Lunar X Prize.[1] The company is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Astrobotic Technology, Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustryAerospace, robotics
Founded2007
Headquarters
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Key people
Products
  • Autonomous robots
  • Space systems
  • Space payloads
  • Robotic spacecraft
  • Telerobotics
Number of employees
50-100 (As of 1 July 2012)
Websitehttp://www.astrobotic.com

The first launch of one of its spacecraft, the Peregrine lunar lander, is expected to take place in July 2021[2] on a Vulcan Centaur rocket.[3]

On 11 June 2020, Astrobotic received a second contract for the CLPS program. NASA will pay Astrobotic US$199.5 million to carry the VIPER rover. Astrobotic will take NASA's VIPER rover to the lunar surface in late 2023.[4]

History

The team stated a goal from the start in 2007: to be the first commercial operation to land their Red Rover on the Moon, using their Artemis Lander.[5] The company's first running prototype of Red Rover was completed the same year, and the concept lander was renamed Griffin.[6]

On 28 July 2008, NASA awarded Astrobotic funding for a concept study on "regolith moving methods",[7] and the next year, Astrobotic began to receive Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding from NASA totaling over US$795,000 to investigate prospecting for lunar resources,[8] which eventually led to a concept called Polar Excavator.

On 15 October 2010, NASA awarded a contract to Astrobotic for Innovative Lunar Demonstrations Data (ILDD) firm-fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with a total value up to US$30.1 million over a period of up to five years, and in December, NASA's $500,000 ILDD project for further Lunar Demonstrations Data was awarded to Astrobotic.[9]

Astrobotic's "Technologies Enabling Exploration of Skylights, Lava Tubes, and Caves", was a Phase I selection for NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC).[10] In April 2011, Astrobotic received a US$599,000 two-year contract to develop a scalable gravity offload device for testing rover mobility in simulated lunar gravity under NASA's Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR).[11]

In May 2012, David Gump left the position of President of Astrobotic and John Thornton took the reins.[12]

On 30 April 2014, NASA announced that Astrobotic Technology was one of the three companies selected for the Lunar CATALYST initiative.[13] NASA was negotiating a 3-year no-funds-exchanged Space Act Agreement (SAA) where the Griffin lander may be involved.[14] The CATALYST agreement was extended in October 2017 for 2 years.[15]

On 2 June 2016, Astrobotic Technology announced a new design of its Griffin concept lander and named it Peregrine.[16] Airbus Defence and Space signed a memorandum of understanding to provide engineering support for Astrobotic as it refines the lander's design. In December 2016, Astrobotic slipped their estimated launch date to 2019 and separated from the Google Lunar X Prize.[17]

On 29 November 2018, Astrobotic was declared eligible to bid on NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services to deliver science and technology payloads to the Moon.[18] Astrobotic's successful bid entailed a US$79.5 million contract to deliver payloads to Lacus Mortis. Astrobotic set an initial target of fourteen payloads starting in July 2021.[19][20]

In September 2019, Spacebit signed an agreement to deliver the first UK lunar rover Asagumo on Astrobotic's upcoming mission in 2021 and named this "Spacebit mission one".[21][22]

On 25 September 2019, John Thornton of Astrobotic was named CEO of the Year by the Pittsburgh Technology Council at the 23rd annual Tech50 awards ceremony.[23][24]

On 24 January 2021, MrBeast, a YouTuber, announced that he would be placing a payload, a hard drive containing large numbers of digital image files submitted by anyone who contributed $10 via his online store, on the Peregrine lander.[25][26]

Commercial payload pricing

As of 2018, payload delivery to lunar orbit is US$300,000/kg; delivery to the lunar surface is $1,200,000/kg; and $2,000,000/kg for deploying a rover.[27]

Lunar missions

Icebreaker to the north pole

In April 2011, Astrobotic contracted with SpaceX for a Falcon 9 launch of a lunar north pole mission for as early as December 2013. The mission was intended to launch the Griffin lander and deliver "a small rover and up to about 240 pounds (110 kg) of payload to the surface of the Moon".[28][29] The launch date slipped to 2015, and it was first named Polar Excavator, and then Icebreaker, that would target the lunar north pole.[30] This expedition's rover was to be Polaris.[31][32] A model of the Polaris rover was unveiled in October 2012,[33] and the company indicated that they were still under contract to SpaceX for a Falcon 9 mission.[34] The launch date further slipped to 2016, and Astrobotic contracted with two other GLXP teams including Team Hakuto and Team AngelicvM to share the launch expenses. The agreement was to launch the rovers of all teams on a single SpaceX Falcon 9 which would then use the Astrobotic Griffin lander. After landing on the lunar surface, all teams would have competed against each other to achieve the specific GLXP objectives and earn the various prices.[35][36] The Griffin lander was never built, and Icebreaker mission was not launched.

Mission One

In July 2017, Astrobotic announced an agreement had been reached with United Launch Alliance (ULA) to launch their Peregrine lander aboard a Vulcan rocket.[37] The Mission One is planned to be launched in July 2021.[37][2]

By May 2019, its first lunar lander mission, simply called Mission One, had 14 commercial payloads including small rovers from Hakuto, Team AngelicvM,[38] and a larger rover from the Carnegie Mellon University named Andy that has a mass of 33 kilograms (73 lb) and is 103 cm tall.[39] An unusual miniature rover (1.5 kilograms (3.3 lb)) called Spacebit is included, and it moves on four legs.[40][41][42] It is a technological demonstrator and will travel a distance of at least 10 metres (33 ft).[43] Other payloads aboard the lander is a library, in micro print on nickel, which will include Wikipedia contents and Long Now Foundation's Rosetta Project.[44][45]

On 29 November 2018, Astrobotic was made eligible to bid on NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services to deliver science and technology payloads to the Moon,[18] and in May 2019, it was awarded its first lander contract for NASA.[46][47] Therefore, in addition of the 14 commercial payloads, the lander will carry 14 NASA-sponsored payloads, for a total of 28.[48]

Peregrine will carry a maximum payload mass of 90 kilograms (200 lb) during Mission One,[49] and it is planned to land on Lacus Mortis, a relatively flat plateau at 44°N 25°E, and operate for about 8 Earth days.[27] The payload mass for the planned second mission (Mission Two) is capped at 175 kilograms (386 lb), and the M3 and later missions would carry the full payload capacity of 265 kilograms (584 lb).[27]

Spacecraft

Peregrine lander
Peregrine
Peregrine model
ManufacturerAstrobotic Technology
DesignerAstrobotic Technology and Airbus Defence and Space
Country of originUnited States
OperatorAstrobotic Technology
ApplicationsCommercial lunar transport
Specifications
Spacecraft typeCruise, lunar orbit and surface operations
Design lifeOne lunar day
Launch massMission 1: 1,283 kilograms (2,829 lb) [27]
Payload capacityup to 265 kilograms (584 lb)
Power30 watts
BatteriesLithium-ion
Dimensions
Length1.9 metres (6 ft 3 in)
Diameter2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in)
Production
StatusIn development
Launched0

The Peregrine lander was announced in 2016.[16] It inherits designs from their previous concept lander called Griffin, which was larger but with the same payload capacity.[16][50] Astrobotic had contracted Airbus Defence and Space to provide additional engineering support as they refine the lander's design.

Peregrine's bus structure is mainly manufactured out of aluminum alloy, and it is reconfigurable for specific missions. Its propulsion system features a cluster of five thrusters, built by Frontier Aerospace.[51] Each thruster produces 667 N thrust. This propulsion system would propel the trans-lunar injection, trajectory corrections, lunar orbit insertion, and powered descent. The propulsion system is capable of delivering an orbiter to the Moon and then performing a powered soft landing.[27] The lander would carry up to 450 kilograms (990 lb) of bi-propellant mass in four tanks; its composition is MON-25 /MMH, a hypergolic bi-propellant.[52] For attitude control (orientation), the spacecraft uses twelve thrusters (45 N each) also powered by MON-25/MMH.[27]

The spacecraft's avionics systems incorporate guidance and navigation to the Moon, and a Doppler LiDAR to assist the automated landing on four legs.[16] Its landing ellipse narrowed to 100m x 100m starting with Mission 2 from a previous 24 km × 6 km.[27] Peregrine is about 2.5 m wide and 1.9 m tall, and it would be able to deliver up to 265 kilograms (584 lb) of payload to the surface of the Moon.[16][53][27][54]

Its electrical systems will be powered by a lithium-ion battery that is recharged by a solar panel made of GaInP/GaAs/Ge. Radiators and thermal insulators are used to dispose of excess heat, but the lander does not carry heaters, so the first few Peregrine landers are not expected to survive the lunar night,[27] which lasts 14 Earth days. Future missions could be adapted to do so.[27]

For communications to Earth, the lander uses different frequencies within the X-band range for uplink as well as downlink.[27] Following landing, a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi modem enables wireless communication between the lander and deployed rovers on the lunar surface.[27]

Payload Suppliers
NASA.
Agencia Espacial Mexicana.
Canadensys Aerospace.
DHL.
Airbus Defence and Space.
Spacebit.
Carnegie Mellon University.
Dymon.
ATLAS Space Operations.
Puli Space Technologies.
Astroscale.
Arch Mission Foundation.
Team AngelicvM.
Elysium Space.
Celestis.
Bosch.
Pennsylvania State University.
WiBotic.
Kanjirowa National School.
MrBeast.
Dynetics.
@andres.
Future Grind.[55]
Surrey Satellite Technology.
United Launch Alliance.
Cobham.[56]
ABSL.
Frontier Aerospace.
Northrop Grumman.[57]

Rovers
Country Name Agency or company
 USA Andy Carnegie Mellon University
 UK Spacebit Mission One Spacebit
 Chile Unity Team AngelicvM
 Japan Yaoki Dymon
 Mexico Colmenla UNAM
 Hungary Team Puli Puli Space Technologies
 USA Iris Carnegie Mellon University

Instruments
Country Name Agency or company
 Mexico ? Mexican space agency
 USA Lunar laser ATLAS Space Operations
 USA Terrain Relative Navigation Astrobotic Technology
 Canada ? Canadensys
 USA 14 instruments NASA
 UK state-of-the-art data relay-services Surrey Satellite Technology

Others
Country Name Agency or company Type
 Hungary Memory of Mankind on the Moon Puli Space Technologies Time capsule
 Mexico Hive UNAM Lander
 Japan Lunar Dream Time Capsule[58] Astroscale Time capsule
 USA Lunar Libarys Arch Mission Foundation Time capsule
 USA DHL Moonbox DHL and Airbus Defence and Space Mementos box
 USA HopeMoonshot*[59] Pennsylvania State University ?
 USA ?*[60] Future Grind ?
 USA MoonArk[61] Carnegie Mellon University Lunar Museum
 USA Memorial Space Flight Services Elysium Space ?
 USA Luna 02 Celestis ?
   Nepal ?[62] Kanjirowa National School Art Work
 USA MoonBox MrBeast Time capsule [63]
 USA ? Dynetics Propulsion System Integrator
 Germany Berlin Space Technologies star tracker
  • HopeMoonshot and future grind are going in the DHL Moonbox

Canceled
Country Name Agency or company Type
 UK ? Lunar Mission One instrument
 Mexico Mexico moon rover Mexican space agency Microrovers

Griffin lander

NASA's VIPER will be landed on the larger Griffin lander (450 kg).[64]

Rovers

Astrobotic has a line of three rovers called Polaris, CubeRover, and MoonRanger.[65]

  • The Polaris rover was unveiled in October 2012,[66][67][68] and it was to be used on a now cancelled mission called Icebreaker to the lunar north pole using their Griffin lander and deliver "a small rover and up to about 240 pounds (110 kg) of payload to the surface of the Moon".[69][70]
  • CubeRover is a class of planetary rovers with a standardized format meant to accelerate the pace of space exploration. The idea is equivalent to that of the successful CubeSat format, with a standardized architecture to assemble new units that will be all compatible, modular, and inexpensive.[71] The rover class concept is being developed by Astrobotic Technology in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University, and it is partly funded by NASA awards.[71] The Principal Investigator of the program is Andrew Horchler. The first derivative of a CubeRover, a spinoff rover called Iris developed by CMU students, is planned to be deployed on the Moon in 2021 on board Astrobotic's Peregrine lander.[72][73][2][74]
  • PitRanger a 13 kilograms (29 lb) rover being developed to carry payloads on the Moon for NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS). The US$5.6 million contract was awarded to Astrobotic and its partner Carnegie Mellon University on 1 July 2019.[65][75] Launch is envisioned for either 2021 or 2022.[75][76] The rover will carry science payloads yet to be determined and developed by other providers, that will focus on scouting and creating 3D maps of a polar region for signs of water ice or lunar pits for entrances to Moon caves.[76][77] The rover would operate mostly autonomously for up to one week.[77]

See also

References
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