Partners Developing Lunar Delivery Service
DHL and Airbus Defence and Space are supporting Astrobotic to develop its lunar payload delivery service.
Astrobotic, is building a service to make the moon accessible to the world.
Deutsche Post DHL Group, the world’s leading mail and logistics company, will become the official logistics provider for Astrobotic’s first mission to the moon.” DHL will provide logistics services for Astrobotic’s spacecraft and its customer payloads, making sure that all materials for the new lunar lander as well as the ‘space freight’ will arrive safe and on time to begin their journey to the moon.
“Moon exploration has a special historical significance for us,” said said Arjan Sissing, senior vice presidentat Deutsche Post DHL Group. “DHL was founded in 1969, the year of the first moon landing. Having played a pioneering role in logistics for many years, we are looking forward to partnering with Astrobotic to open a new frontier in space, and to further developing lunar logistics in the future.”
Airbus Defence and Space, the world’s second largest space company, will contribute initial engineering support to Astrobotic through a memorandum of understanding, as the company advances its lunar lander design to a preliminary design review.
“Airbus Defence and Space clearly regards Astrobotic as the front runner in commercial lunar transportation services,” said Bart Reijnen, the company’s senior vice president for on-orbit services and exploration. “We have now the opportunity to assess options to further strengthen this cooperation and to become a true partner in the global endeavor to provide a commercial gateway to the moon.”
The team will advance the technical maturity of Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander towards the next big development milestone. Peregrine builds on eight years of Astrobotic lunar lander development, and will carry Astrobotic’s first delivery of payloads to the lunar surface. Peregrine will fly as a secondary payload on its first mission, with the ability to fly Astrobotic’s future missions thereafter. These announced partnerships build on an already existing Astrobotic relationship with NASA, through the Lunar CATALYST Program. NASA Lunar CATALYST provides Astrobotic access to some of the best spacecraft engineers and facilities in the world, as part of NASA’s effort to encourage the development of U.S. commercial robotic lunar lander capabilities.
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