XL-1, is a small, single-use lander capable of placing a 100-kg payload on the lunar surface.
Created: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2023-02-26
Company - Masten Space Systems (Astrobotic)
Product/Service - Moon Lander XL-1
- Classification
- Cargo Transportation & Landers
- Category
- Transport Service (LEO-Moon)
Commercial Lunar Lander
Landing Pads
- Status
- Acquired, Development
- First launch
- Not applicable
- This approach uses engineered particles injected into the rocket plume to build up a coating over the regolith at the landing location. The hardened regolith would have greater thermal resistance and ablation resistance to reduce regolith erosion rates and deep cratering.
- This innovation would enable large and small landers to safely perform transportation to any region on the Moon without major risks posed by engine plume effects.
- A lander could land in relatively close proximity to other surface assets without pre-existing infrastructure, which greatly expands potential landing locations and minimizes the need for pad construction missions.
Masten Space Systems won two contracts, with a total value of $12.8 million, to demonstrate precision landing technologies with its Xogdor vehicle and a system to provide heat and power for payloads to allow them to survive the lunar night.
Astrobotic acquired the assets but keeping this entry for historical records: A federal bankruptcy court approved the sale of nearly all the assets of Masten Space Systems, a company developing a lunar lander for a NASA mission, to another lander developer, Astrobotic.
Sources
Most sources should be linked in the texts and headings as revealed by mouse-over, but here are they listed for visibility.