(Update: Mission concluded) Private US Moon lander crashes into Earth

Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar lander, the first American commercial lunar lander to launch to the Moon as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, likely re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on Thursday, January 18, and burned up, ending the mission.

Following a launch on January 8, the privately designed and developed Peregrine lunar lander experienced a propulsion issue that prevented it from softly landing on the Moon.

In the latest update shared by Astrobotic, the company said that they have lost contact with the spacecraft, indicating that the vehicle completed its controlled re-entry over open water in the South Pacific. In the statement posted on X, the company added that they are waiting for an independent confirmation from government entities.

(1/2) Update #22 for Peregrine Mission One pic.twitter.com/YIKQKE6fgH

— Astrobotic (@astrobotic) January 19, 2024

Although the Peregrine lunar lander failed to achieve a soft landing on the Moon, several payloads onboard the spacecraft including NASA's Linear Energy Transfer Spectrometer (LETS), Near-Infrared Volatile Spectrometer System (NIRVSS), Neutron Spectrometer System (NSS), and the Peregrine Ion-Trap Mass Spectrometer (PITMS), were able to collect data in space near the Moon.

Astrobotic and NASA are set to host a media teleconference on Friday, January 19, to provide an end-of-mission update.

Update 1

Astrobotic and NASA have confirmed the safe, controlled re-entry of the Peregrine lander over the South Pacific. With this, the Peregrine Mission One has concluded.

"The first flight of NASA's commercial lunar delivery service carrying agency science and technology, as well as other customer payloads intended for the Moon, has come to an end. After 10 days and 13 hours in space, Astrobotic's Peregrine Mission One made a controlled re-entry on Earth over open water in the South Pacific at approximately 4:04 p.m. EST on Jan. 18," NASA said in a statement on Friday.