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The Cert-1 mission has been launched, which for the first time intends to bring a vehicle built by a private company to the Moon. This is the Peregrine lander built by Astrobotic, on board which there are experiments by NASA, as part of the Artemis program for returning to the Moon, and by seven countries.
The launch took place from platform 41 of the Space Force Station at Cape Canaveral, the base of the United States Department of Defense, with the Vulcan rocket which is on its first flight. The rocket was also built by a private company, United Launch Alliance.
The launch is proceeding regularly and the separation of the Centaur upper stage of the Vulcan rocket has occurred. The moon landing of the Peregrine lander is scheduled for February 23 and, if it occurs regularly, a private vehicle will land on the Moon more than half a century after the last mission of the Apollo program, in 1972.
With this launch the new race to the Moon comes to life. While the Cert-1 mission flies towards the Moon, the Japanese Slim rover is already in lunar orbit, which is expected to perform an unprecedented precision moon landing on January 19. Meanwhile, after postponing the launch of its Im-1 mission from January to February 12 at the earliest, the private company Intuitive Machine intends to bring its Nova-C lander to lunar soil on February 22.