Thank you for following our live coverage of today’s launch. United Launch Alliance had a lot at stake with the first flight of their new Vulcan Centaur rocket, but all the indications are that it has successfully deployed the first of its payloads – the Peregrine 1 lunar lander.
That lander is attempting to carry Nasa scientific instruments and some commercial payloads to the moon in what would be the first lunar landing by the US for half a century, and the first landing on the moon by a private company. It is now in a highly elliptical orbit and is anticipated to reach the moon on 23 February. See you then!
Peregrine lunar lander sends first signals from orbit after successful launch
Astrobotics have reported that it has acquired signal from the Peregrine lunar lander.
Another tense moment for the mission has been successfully completed.
After the lander separated from the Centaur rocket there were a couple of expected minutes of silence before a signal from the craft was received at Astrobotics mission control, where it sparked some emotional scenes.
