The US Aerospace Robotics Corporation and the "Intuitive Machine" company plan to launch unmanned lunar exploration vehicles in the first quarter of next year. If successful, it would be the first time the United States has returned to the surface of the moon since 1972.
According to the Washington Post 24**, the above two companies are funded by NASA and will compete on who can become "the first private company to land on the moon in history".
Japan's private company i Space fell short when it hit this historic record in April, when its lunar lander Mission 1 lost contact during an attempt to land, and was presumed to have crashed on the lunar surface by deviating from the landing site.
According to reports, the US Aerospace Robotics Corporation intends to launch the "Peregrine Falcon" lunar lander on January 8 next year. This will also be the debut of the "Vulcan" rocket of the United Launch Alliance, a company co-founded by the American industrial giant Lockheed Martin and Boeing. In mid-February, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket will lift off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, aboard an Intuition Machine lander.
Both U.S. private companies participate in NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. The project, which aims to deliver cargo and experimental equipment to the moon, was launched 5 years ago. The Washington Post said that after several years of delays, the first missions of the "Commercial Lunar Payload Service" project are about to begin. NASA also plans to deliver its Volatile Survey Polar Exploration Vehicle (VIPER) to the moon for the first time next year. The Volatile Survey Polar Exploration Vehicle will be deployed at the south pole of the moon to determine the distribution and content of water ice in the region.
NASA's unmanned lunar exploration program is designed to prepare for a manned landing on the moon. The new Artemis moon landing program announced by the United States in 2019 could be realized as early as 2025 after years of delays.