Private U.S. Moon landing suffers 'critical' failure after launch

A U.S. attempt to land on the moon for the first time in a half-century suffered a major setback Monday when the private company operating the lunar lander said it suffered a major fuel leak after launch.

The Pennsylvania-based company, Astrobotic, said the lander had initially completed several early steps after separating from United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket, and had activated its propulsion system before a malfunction occurred. United Launch Alliance is a joint aerospace venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

After re-establishing communications following an expected blackout, Astrobotic said its team was able to successfully re-orient the lander's solar array with the Sun, allowing the Peregrine Lunar Lander to charge its onboard battery. The company was able to then determine that the "anomaly" was a "critical" fuel leak that imperils the future of the mission.

"The team is working to try and stabilize this loss, but given the situation, we have prioritized maximizing the science and data we can capture. We are currently assessing what alternative mission profiles may be feasible at this time," Astrobotic said.

The Peregrine Lunar Lander successfully lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station atop the Vulcan rocket early Monday morning around 2:18 a.m. local time (0718 GMT). The lander achieved trans-lunar orbit and separated from the rocket without issue roughly 50 minutes later.

Prior to Monday's malfunction, the lunar lander was expected to touch down on the near-side of the Moon's surface in late February. The future of the mission remains unclear as Astrobotic now seeks to determine what can be salvaged.

The lander was slated to become the first commercial vehicle to touch down on the Moon's surface. NASA had paid for several scientific payloads to be carried aboard the vehicle to carry out studies of the lunar surface.