It is known that despite preparations for NASA's Griffin-1 lunar mission, the launch of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, the key participant, has been postponed until July 2026. This was announced by the company Astrobotic, the company responsible for implementing the mission.
In general, preparations for the launch of Griffin-1 are going well, but engine quality tests and system readiness tests continue, which is the main reason why the Falcon Heavy launch was postponed. The mission, which includes NASA and commercial vehicles including Astrobotic's CubeRover and Astrolab's FLIP rover, aims to demonstrate precision landing and develop lunar infrastructure. This will be Astrobotic's second attempt after the failed launch of the Peregrine mission in early 2024.
SpaceX is the subcontractor and the Falcon Heavy rocket is the key. The aircraft carrier has a thrust of more than 5 million pounds, is one of the most powerful operational rockets, created on the basis of three Falcon 9 boosters.
Since its first flight in 2018, Falcon Heavy has completed 11 launches. Usually rockets are used to transport heavy cargo or large satellites. The last rocket launch took place in October 2024 and was intended to deliver the Europa Clipper apparatus to study Europa, a moon of Jupiter.
It's also important to note that SpaceX actively reuses secondary boosters, but the main boosters are generally not reusable. The company plans to phase out the use of the Falcon Heavy and Falcon 9, completely replacing them with the Starship system.
