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<strong>Space start-up Astrobotic has selected SpaceX&#39;s Falcon Heavy rocket to launch its Griffin lunar lander to the Moon in late 2023.</strong></p>
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Griffin will be carrying NASA&#39;s water-hunting Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER).<br />
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&quot;Getting to the Moon isn&#39;t just about building a spacecraft, but having a complete mission solution,&quot; Daniel Gillies, Griffin Mission 1 Director for Astrobotic, said in a statement.<br />
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&quot;SpaceX&#39;s Falcon Heavy completes our Griffin Mission 1 (GM1) solution by providing a proven launch vehicle to carry us on our trajectory to the Moon. SpaceX has the team, vehicle, and facilities to make this happen.&quot;<br />
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Astrobotic was awarded a task order in 2020 from NASA to deliver VIPER to the south pole of the Moon as part of the agency&#39;s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.<br />
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After Falcon Heavy launches Griffin on a trajectory to the Moon, Griffin will land on the surface and VIPER will disembark from Griffin&#39;s ramps to survey the surface and subsurface for water ice.<br />
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These surveys could be the first step toward utilising resources in the space environment — rather than carting them all from Earth — to enable more affordable and sustainable space exploration.<br />
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Griffin&#39;s delivery of VIPER will be Astrobotic&#39;s second CLPS delivery, following the company&#39;s Peregrine lander delivery later this year.<br />
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&quot;Gaining a better learning of resources on the Moon is critical to advancing humanity&#39;s reach beyond Earth, and we are honoured to support this exciting mission and NASA&#39;s CLPS programme,&quot; said SpaceX Senior Director of Commercial Sales Stephanie Bednarek.<br />
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Griffin Mission One is targeted to launch in 2023 from SpaceX&#39;s facilities at Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<br />
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Work on the Griffin lunar lander is ongoing with qualification testing planned to be completed towards the end of this year, Astrobotic said.</p>
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<em>(IANS)</em></p>
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