United States Astrobotic Tender

Astrobotic announced that it selected United Launch Alliances ULA Vulcan Centaur rocket in a competitive commercial procurement to launch its Peregrine lunar lander to the moon in 2021.We are so excited to sign with ULA and fly Peregrine on Vulcan Centaur. This contract with ULA was the result of a highly competitive commercial process and we are grateful to everyone involved in helping us make low-cost lunar transportation possible. When we launch the first lunar lander from American soil since Apollo onboard the first Vulcan Centaur rocket it will be a historic day for the country and commercial enterprise said Astrobotic CEO John Thornton.Astrobotic the world leader in commercial delivery to the moon was selected by NASAs Commercial Lunar Payload Services CLPS program to deliver up to 14 NASA payloads to the Moon on its Peregrine lunar lander in 2021. With this 79.5 million CLPS award Astrobotic has now signed 16 customers for lunar delivery on its first mission.Our rockets have carried exploration missions to the moon the sun and every planet in the solar system so it is only fitting that Vulcan Centaurs inaugural flight will lead the return of Americans to the lunar surface said Tory Bruno ULAs president and CEO. We could not be more excited to fly this mission for Astrobotic. Astrobotics Peregrine lunar lander will launch on a Vulcan Centaur rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The launch of this mission will serve as the first of two certification flights required for ULAs U.S. Air Force certification process.This partnership represents a true whole-of-government approach to how our nation is leading the world in space NASA contracted with a commercial company to land on the moon who then went on to contract with a commercial company for a rocket built to serve the national security space market said Bruno. This highlights the power of our American system of partnership between government and industry to solve the toughest problems and the greatest of our human aspirations.