According to reports, recently, Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic announced the acquisition of Masten Space Systems, which filed for bankruptcy protection at the end of July. Some future Masten employees will continue to work at the company’s headquarters in Mojave, California, conducting research on suborbital flights while continuing to develop the Xogdor rocket.
Before Masten filed for bankruptcy protection, NASA gave the two companies the mission to send robotic payloads to the moon. Like Masten, Astrobotic is developing lunar robots under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.
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It is unclear what will happen to Masten’s $75.9 million CLPS contract with NASA; NASA sources have previously said that if Masten fails to perform the mission, they will transfer the payloads planned on its lander to other CLPS missions. In a recent press release, Astrobotic highlighted the value of Masten’s vertical takeoff and vertical landing (VTVL) technology and propulsion technology and said the company’s suborbital flight research efforts will continue.
Astrobotic said Sept. 13: “The combined company will continue to conduct suborbital flight operations at Masten’s Proving Ground in Mojave, with plans to continue to serve as a key rocket fire test site for the aerospace industry. ”
In August, Masten filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Delaware District Federal Bankruptcy Court. According to reports, the court on September 11 accepted Astrobotic’s “high bid” of $4.5 million to acquire “substantially all” of Masten’s assets. In the auction, Masten received two bids from lunar lander developer intuitive machines and space transportation company Impulse Space, but those bids were lower than Astrobotic’s bid.
Astrobotic emphasizes Masten’s heritage in vertical takeoff and vertical landing technology, including winning first prize in the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander X Challenge in 2009. Astrobotic wrote: “This recognition sets the stage for Masten’s one-of-a-kind VTOL flight program, which has demonstrated industry-leading landing accuracy and rapid repeatability in more than 600 VTOL flights to date. ”
Astrobotic also praised Masten’s Xogdor rocket, which it said “provides a payload for current and future lunar and interplanetary missions,” including Astrobotic’s OPAL Terrain Relative Navigation System. Astrobotic said it plans to develop a new version of the Xogdor rocket that “will provide higher altitudes and longer mission times, as well as a supersonic flight for suborbital payload testing.”
In addition, the new Xogdor rocket will undergo additional testing on Masten’s propulsion test bed for Astrobotic and its customers. Masten’s lunar technology supports NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration program, which aims to send humans to the lunar surface and conduct permanent scientific exploration there, with the ultimate goal of the moon acting as a ladder to send humans to Mars. Masten’s technologies appear to be seen as a “space technology portfolio,” which Astrobotic promises to “continue to push forward,” without providing further details.
