After its first scheduled launch for Christmas Eve was canceled, Pittsburgh space company Astrobotic has set a new date to send their lunar lander to the moon.

Astrobotic announced this past week that its Peregrine lunar lander will launch Jan. 8, 2024. The company said the lander completed all integration milestones and was mated with United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket payload adapter in November.

Colorado-based United Launch Alliance will launch its rocket Jan. 8 from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The lander will take more than a month to travel to the moon before attempting its landing.

Astrobotic CEO John Thornton said landing on the moon’s surface is incredibly difficult, but he is confident the team of over 200 can accomplish it. Pittsburgh will act as mission control during the lander’s journey through space and landing.

“Our team has continuously surpassed expectations and demonstrated incredible ingenuity during flight reviews, spacecraft testing and major hardware integrations,” Thorton said. “We are ready for launch and for landing.”

Peregrine’s launch will be Astrobotic’s first. The company was founded in 2007 and operates out of a 47,000-square-foot facility on Pittsburgh’s North Side.

The company was awarded $79.5 million from NASA to deliver scientific payloads to the northern part of the moon.

If successful, Astrobotic will become the first commercial company to land a spacecraft on the lunar surface.

Peregrine will start its self-propulsion system about 40 minutes after separating from the Vulcan rocket, according to a release. From there, it points its solar panels toward the sun to charge and then starts cruising toward the moon. The Astrobotic team will orchestrate trajectory adjustment maneuvers in Earth’s orbit before entering the moon’s orbit.

Peregrine will then stay in lunar orbit for an extended period of time to perform system checkouts.

The lander will attempt the landing Feb. 23.

“Evolving Peregrine from a paper concept to a fully tested spacecraft ready for launch is a remarkable achievement for a small business,” said Sharad Bhaskaran, Peregrine Mission One director.

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