Gov. Wolf tours Pittsburgh company working to send cargo to the moon

Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday toured Astrobotic, a company on Pittsburgh’s North Side that is working toward sending unmanned vessels to the moon.

Astrobotic CEO John Thornton told reporters that the company is scheduled for a lunar launch this year and another in 2023. If Astrobotic is able to beat a Houston-based competitor and successfully land on the moon, it will be part of the first moon landing in 50 years, Thornton said.

Wolf praised Astrobotic and said the company is an example of Pittsburgh’s economic growth. Astrobotic, originally based in Murrysville, opened a new lunar logistical headquarters on the North Side in 2020. The company employs more than 150 people.

“Pittsburgh is the city of steel, and now it is the city of advanced manufacturing,” Wolf said. “Nothing says intellectual capital like this. This is the kind of magnet we want to see.”

Thornton said Astrobotic’s employment growth has been largely homegrown, with many workers coming from the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State University and Carnegie Mellon University, where the company was founded about 15 years ago. He added that 10% to 20% of Astrobotic’s workforce is made up of Pittsburgh natives who moved away, but returned to the region to take jobs at the company.

The North Side facility includes office space, warehouse rooms for constructing lunar landing equipment and a mission control room where Astrobotic will be managing their launches and landings. Astrobotic will be launching the Peregrine lander in a one-way mission to send cargo to the moon.

“If Pittsburgh can land on the moon, then Pittsburgh can do anything,” Thornton said.

Wolf lauded state investment into Astrobotic, which received $500,000 from the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program and $285,000 in job creation tax credits. He noted that Astrobotic has exceeded the 95 jobs required for the tax credits, and most jobs at Astrobotic pay more than $100,000 a year.

The Astrobotic facility is attached to the future site of the Moonshot Museum, which will include an observation room where visitors can watch workers assembling lunar equipment.

Thornton said that seven nations are participating in Astrobotic’s Peregrine mission. Only the United States, China and the former Soviet Union have successfully landed equipment on the moon. If Astrobotic’s mission is successful, it will triple the number of countries that have successfully landed on the moon, Thornton said.