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Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Science

Private US lunar lander suffers ‘critical loss’ of fuel

United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket with Astrobotic Technology's lander on board is launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on January 8, 2024 [NASA via AP]

A mission to put the first commercial craft on the moon appears to be in jeopardy after the spacecraft suffered a “critical loss” of fuel in a major blow to the United States’s hopes of placing its first robot on the lunar surface in five decades.

Vulcan – a United Launch Alliance (ULA) rocket carrying the robotic lunar lander Peregrine, built by space robotics firm Astrobotic Technology – was launched on Monday at 2:18am (07:18 GMT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

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