Landing craft set to deliver exploration robot to the Moon

The half-ton aluminium structure will now be shipped to Boeing facilities in El Segundo, California, for shake testing to confirm its integrity and its compatibility with the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle.

Astrobotic plans to land the spacecraft, carrying the robot and a commercial payload, on the Moon’s Sea of Tranquillity or on the Marius Hills next to a recently discovered ’skylight’ leading down into a volcanic cave.

The solar-powered Red Rover will broadcast high-definition video to Earth as the four-wheeled robot explores the Moon.

Astrobotic aims to claim up to $36m (£22m) in awards, one of which is from the Google Lunar X Prize, a $30m competition for the first privately funded team to send a robot to the Moon, travel 500m and transmit video, images and data back to Earth.

‘This lunar lander will be a key part of our initial Moon mission and we expect to re-use this design for a series of missions,’ said William ’Red’ Whittaker, CMU professor of robotics and Astrobotics’ chief executive officer and chief technical officer.