US moon lander encounters 'anomaly' hours after launch: Here's what we know

The first American mission to put a lunar lander on the moon's surface in five decades may be in peril.

Shortly into its flight, Astrobotic's Peregrine lander encountered a problem with its propulsion that is causing it to lose a critical amount of propellant, the Pittsburgh-based aerospace company said. All appeared well when Astrobotic was able to make contact with the vehicle, but the snag now threatens the spacecraft's ability to land on the moon at all.

The lander had hitched a ride Monday morning aboard the United Launch Alliance's shiny new Vulcan rocket, which launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. While NASA has a payload bound for the lunar surface, the space agency is merely a customer on what could end up being the first U.S. commercial spacecraft to ever touch down on the moon – if it can get there.

The flight represents the dawning commercial space age and is a vital step in NASA’s goal of putting astronauts back on the moon for the first time since the last Apollo mission in 1972.

Here's what to know about the mission, and what's next as American astronauts prepare to travel back to the moon in the coming years.

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What do we know about the Astrobotic's lander anomaly?

The Peregrine lander, which was designed and is operated by Astrobotic, separated from the Vulcan rocket about an hour after launch before powering onward toward the moon, the company said.

As the lander began receiving telemetry via the NASA Deep Space Network, the avionics systems all powered on and performed as expected while the craft entered "a safe operational state," Astrobotic said.

But hours later, Astrobotic reported a propulsion anomaly that interfered with the craft's ability to achieve a sun-facing position, which is necessary to provide solar power to charge the spacecraft’s batteries. As the batteries began reaching "operationally low levels," the company said, the ship's ability to land on the moon became threatened.

The team performed an improvised maneuver to reorient the solar panels toward the sun, which caused an expected temporary communication loss with the spacecraft that was later restored. But it wasn't long until another setback when the propulsion system's failure caused "a critical loss of propellant," Astrobotic said.

"The team is working hard to try to stabilize this loss, but given the situation, we have prioritized maximizing the science and data we can capture," Astrobotic said in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, just after 1 p.m. EST Monday. "We are currently assessing what alternative mission profiles may be feasible at this time."

When is the Peregrine lander scheduled to reach the moon?

The Peregrine mission is one of two NASA-supported private endeavors racing to get the U.S. back on the moon this year.

Houston’s Intuitive Machines is the second company with lunar ambitions. It aims to launch a lander in mid-February aboard a flight with SpaceX.

If everything goes as planned, it will take Astrobotic two weeks to get to the moon and another month in lunar orbit before a landing is attempted on Feb. 23.

What happens once the lander touches down on the moon?

Peregrine is carrying 20 payloads from seven nations and 16 commercial customers, including space agencies like NASA, universities, companies and others.

The scientific instruments NASA has aboard the lander will help the space agency to conduct a variety of experiments and studies of the lunar surface. The mission will prove crucial in helping the space agency search for evidence of water and other resources that will support human exploration of the moon as part of its Artemis program.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson called the launch "a giant leap for humanity" in a statement reaffirming the agency's intention of returning humans to the moon.

NASA spent tens of millions of dollars for a spot for its cargo on the spacecraft, which represents the debut of the agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program (CLPS). With a budget of $2.6 billion in contracts available through 2028, the program will see NASA more often partnering with private companies to help place scientific payloads on the lunar surface.

"These successes bring us one step closer to seven nations landing on the Moon, six of which have never been to the Moon before," Astrobotic CEO John Thornton said in a statement.

What are NASA's lunar plans?

The mission will pave the way in the years ahead for NASA to send astronauts back to the moon for the first time in five decades.

As early as November, the space agency will first send a group of spacefarers on a 10-day trip circumnavigating the moon – but not touching down – as part of Artemis II. The crew's purpose is to test the capabilities of NASA's Space Launch System rocket and a crewed Orion spacecraft needed for deep-space exploration before the ultimate goal.

The Artemis III crew will have the honor of landing on the lunar surface itself, perhaps as early as 2025. The crew, which will include the first woman and first person of color to land on the moon, will help establish a permanent human presence on and around the moon to serve as a base of operations for missions to Mars.

“These high-risk missions will not only conduct new science at the Moon, but they are supporting a growing commercial space economy while showing the strength of American technology and innovation," Nelson said. "We have so much science to learn through CLPS missions that will help us better understand the evolution of our solar system and shape the future of human exploration for the Artemis generation.”

Navajo Nation objects to human remains taken to moon

But not all were pleased about the mission.

The Navajo Nation, the largest tribe of Native Americans in the United States, objected to payloads on board the lander that contained the remains of people destined for a lunar burial.

"The sacredness of the moon is deeply embedded in the spirituality and heritage of many Indigenous cultures, including our own," Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said in a statement. “The placement of human remains on the moon is a profound desecration of this celestial body revered by our people.”

Two private companies, Celestis and Elysium, paid to send the cremated human ashes and DNA of its customers to the moon, which included notable names such as “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke.

Despite a last-minute meeting convened Friday with the White House, those payloads departed aboard the Peregrine lander.

"No individual religion can or should dictate whether a space mission should be approved," Celestis CEO Charles Chafer said in a statement to USA TODAY. "No one, and no religion, owns the moon and were the beliefs of the world’s multitude of religions considered it’s quite likely that no missions would ever be approved."

What's next for ULA, Astrobotic?

The United Launch Alliance is hoping to earn certification to carry Space Force national security payloads, and this launch was a pivotal step toward that goal.

Officials are targeting April for the Vulcan's second flight, followed by a summer launch of the first Vulcan mission to support national security in space, the company said.

Astrobotic plans to continue its lunar exploration with another launch at the end of the year. The Griffin, the largest lunar lander since the Apollo lunar module, will carry NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) to the south pole of the moon, where it will search for water ice.

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]