First US lunar lander in over 50 years rockets toward moon with commercial deliveries

Cape Canaveral: The first US lunar lander in more than 50 years rocketed toward the moon on Monday, launching private companies on a space race to make deliveries for NASA and other customers.

Astrobotic Technology’s lander caught a ride on a brand new rocket, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan. The Vulcan streaked through the Florida predawn sky, putting the spacecraft on a roundabout route to the moon that should culminate with an attempted landing on February 23.

“So, so, so excited. We are on our way to the moon!” Astrobotic chief executive John Thornton said.

The Pittsburgh company aims to be the first private business to successfully land on the moon, something only four countries have accomplished.

But a Houston company also has a lander ready to fly, and could beat it to the lunar surface, taking a more direct path.

“First to launch. First to land is TBD,” to be determined, Thornton noted.

NASA gave the two companies millions to build and fly their own lunar landers. The space agency wants the privately owned landers to scope out the place before astronauts arrive while delivering NASA tech and science experiments as well as odds and ends for other

customers.