Astrobotic unveils Griffin-1 lunar lander for NASA Moon Base mission

The next robotic lander to launch to the moon was revealed today (June 15) by Pittsburgh-based company Astrobotic. NASA chose Astrobotic's Griffin vehicle to be the lander for its Moon Base II mission , part of the first phase of the agency's efforts to establish a permanent lunar outpost. Astrobotic is targeting late 2026 to launch Griffin Mission One (Griffin-1), which will lift off on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The lander is contracted to deliver several research and technology demonstrations to the surface of the moon as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, including the FLIP ( Flex Lunar Innovation Platform ) rover from California-based company Astrolab . "This is the first infrastructure-class lander going to the surface of the moon," Astrobotic CEO John Thornton said during today's event. "This lander will be part of the cornerstone of building the moon base on the surface of the moon, so I'm just so excited for it to be here today, and to wish it good travels as it heads out to JPL [NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory ] for environmental testing," Integration at the company's headquarters is expected to wrap up this week, with a number of payloads already incorporated onto the lander. Those payloads include Astrobotic's own BEACON CubeRover, in coordination with Mission Control Space Services, and the European Space Agency 's LandCam-X, designed to help improve lunar landing precision and reliability on future missions. …