Armadillo Aerospace Successfully Completes Level 2 of Lunar Lander Challenge
Armadillo Aerospace succeeded yesterday in completing the necessary flights to qualify for a $1 million prize in NASA’s Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge according to the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.
Two other companies plan to compete for the prize before the October 31 deadline, so Armadillo has not yet officially won. Nonetheless, its Scorpius launch vehicle did what was needed to qualify as a winner: ascend to a height of 50 meters, translate to a pad 50 meters away, land safely on a rocky surface after at least 180 seconds of flight time, and then repeat the flight. The prize is part of NASA’s Centennial Challenges program and is managed by the X-Prize Foundation.
Armadillo won Level 1 of the challenge last year (which required 90 instead of 180 seconds of flight time), winning $350,000.
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