World
First US lunar lander in more than 50 years rockets toward moon with commercial deliveries
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) —
The first U.S. lunar lander in more than 50 years rocketed toward the moon Monday, launching private companies on a space race to make deliveries for NASA and other customers.
Astrobotic Technology’s lander caught a ride on a brand new rocket, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan. The Vulcan streaked through the Florida predawn sky, putting the spacecraft on a roundabout route to the moon that should culminate with an attempted landing on Feb. 23.
The Pittsburgh company aims to be the first private business to successfully land on the moon, something only four countries have accomplished. But a Houston company also has a lander ready to fly, and could beat it to the lunar surface, taking a more direct path.
“First to launch. First to land is TBD,” to be determined, said Astrobotic chief executive John Thornton.
NASA gave the two companies millions to build and fly their own lunar landers. The space agency wants the privately owned landers to scope out the place before astronauts arrive while delivering NASA tech and science experiments as well as odds and ends for other customers. Astrobotic’s contract for the Peregrine lander: $108 million.
The last time the U.S. launched a moon-landing mission was in December 1972. Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt became the 11th and 12th men to walk on the moon, closing out an era that has remained NASA’s pinnacle.
The space agency’s new Artemis program — named after the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology — looks to return astronauts to the moon’s surface within the next few years. First will be a lunar fly-around with four astronauts, possibly before the end of the year.
Highlighting Monday’s moonshot was the long-delayed initial test flight of the Vulcan rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The 202-foot (61-meter) rocket is essentially an upgraded version of ULA’s hugely successful workhorse Atlas V, which is being phased out along with the company’s Delta IV. Jeff Bezos’ rocket company, Blue Origin, provided the Vulcan’s two main engines.
The Soviet Union and the U.S. racked up a string of successful moon landings in the 1960s and 70s, before putting touchdowns on pause. China joined the elite club in 2013 and India in 2023. But last year also saw landers from Russia and a private Japanese company slam into the moon. An Israeli nonprofit crashed in 2019.
Next month, SpaceX will provide the lift for a lander from Intuitive Machines. The Nova-C lander’s more direct one-week route could see both spacecraft attempting to land within days or even hours of one another.
The hourlong descent to the lunar surface — by far the biggest challenge — will be “exciting, nail-biting, terrifying all at once,” said Thornton.
Besides flying experiments for NASA, Astrobotic drummed up its own freight business, packing the 6-foot-tall (1.9-meter-tall) Peregrine lander with everything from a chip of rock from Mount Everest and toy-size cars from Mexico that will catapult to the lunar surface and cruise around, to the ashes and DNA of deceased space enthusiasts, including “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke.
The Navajo Nation recently sought to have the launch delayed because of the human remains. saying it would be a “profound desecration” of a celestial body revered by Native Americans. Thornton said the December objections came too late but promised to try to find “a good path forward” with the Navajo for future missions.
One of the spaceflight memorial companies that bought room on the lander, Celestis, said in a statement that no single culture or religion owns the moon and should not be able to veto a mission. More remains are on the rocket’s upper stage, which, once free of the lander, will indefinitely circle the sun as far out as Mars.
Cargo fares for Peregrine ranged from a few hundred dollars to $1.2 million per kilogram (2.2 pounds), not nearly enough for Astrobotic to break even. But for this first flight, that’s not the point, according to Thornton.
“A lot of people’s dreams and hopes are riding on this,” he said.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
At least 26 Palestinians were reportedly killed and some 175 were wounded as they made their way to receive food in the Gaza Strip, according to officials from the Hamas-run health ministry and witnesses, but Israeli officials dispute these claims.
Witnesses said Israeli forces fired on crowds around 1,000 yards away from an aid site run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). A Palestinian journalist told the BBC that thousands of Palestinians had gathered near the aid site near Gaza’s southern city of Rafah when Israeli tanks approached and opened fire on the crowd.
The Israeli Defense Forces said it is “currently unaware of injuries caused by IDF fire within the Humanitarian Aid distribution site,” adding that “the matter is still under review.”
“It is false and fabricated. All aid was distributed today without incident,” the GHF said. “No injuries or fatalities as noted in our daily update sent out earlier. We have heard that these fake reports have been actively fomented by Hamas. They are untrue and fabricated.”
The GHF has denied previous accounts of chaos and gunfire around its sites, which are in Israeli military zones where independent access is limited.
ISRAEL HOSTAGE DEAL IN DOUBT AS HAMAS ADDS DEMANDS, US ENVOY CALLS TERMS ‘UNACCEPTABLE’
Palestinians carry bags containing food and humanitarian aid packages delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP)
In its statement, the foundation dismissed what it referred to as “false reporting about deaths, mass injuries and chaos.”
The organization’s distribution of aid has been marred by chaos, with multiple witnesses having said Israeli troops fired on crowds near the delivery sites. Before Sunday, at least six people had been killed and more than 50 wounded, according to local health officials.
The foundation says the private security contractors guarding its sites have not fired on the crowds. The Israeli military has said it fired warning shots in previous incidents.
As thousands of people headed toward the distribution site hours before dawn, Israeli forces ordered them to disperse and return later, witnesses said. When the crowds reached the Flag Roundabout, around 1,000 yards away, at around 3 a.m., the military opened fire, the witnesses said.
“There was fire from all directions, from naval warships, from tanks and drones,” Amr Abu Teiba, who was in the crowd, said.
Palestinians carry boxes and bags containing food and humanitarian aid packages delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP)
He said he observed at least 10 bodies with gunshot wounds and several other wounded people, including women. People used carts to carry the victims to the field hospital.
Another witness, Ibrahim Abu Saoud, gave a nearly identical account. Abu Saoud said he saw many people with gunshot wounds, including a young man who he said had died at the scene.
Mohammed Abu Teaima said he saw Israeli forces open fire and kill his cousin and another woman as they were on their way to the distribution site. He said his cousin was shot in his chest and died at the scene, while many others were wounded, including his brother-in-law.
“They opened heavy fire directly towards us,” he said.
HUCKABEE SLAMS FRENCH-BACKED PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD PUSH AT UN, SAYS US-ISRAEL ARE ‘INSEPARABLY’ LINKED
Smoke rises following an Israeli army bombardment in the Gaza Strip, seen from southern Israel, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP)
Israel and the U.S., which also backs the foundation, say the new aid system seeks to prevent Hamas from taking away aid. Israel has not provided any evidence of systematic diversion and the U.N. denies it has happened.
U.N. agencies and major aid groups have refused to work with the new system, arguing that it violates humanitarian principles since it allows Israel to control who receives aid and forces people to relocate to distribution sites.
The U.N. system has struggled to bring in aid after Israel recently slightly eased its total blockade of the territory. The groups say Israel’s restrictions, the breakdown of law and order and widespread looting make it extremely difficult to deliver aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
with AP
Published on •Updated
French authorities say two fans died after celebrations around the country for Paris Saint-Germain’s historic Champions League victory, European club football’s biggest prize.
A 17-year-old boy was stabbed to death in the city of Dax during a PSG street party, according to the national police. And a man was killed in Paris when his scooter was hit by a car during PSG celebrations, the interior minister’s office said. The circumstances of both deaths are being investigated.
French interior minister Bruno Retailleau commented in a post on social media on Saturday after the game:
“True PSG fans are getting excited about their team’s magnificent performance. Meanwhile, barbarians have taken to the streets of Paris to commit crimes and provoke law enforcement … It is unbearable that it is not possible to party without fearing the savagery of a minority of thugs who respect nothing.”
A police officer was accidentally hit by fireworks in northwest France and placed in an artificial coma because of grave eye injuries, the national police service said.
The interior ministry said 18 police officers in Paris were injured, along with three elsewhere in France, as were 192 people celebrating in the streets.
A total of 294 people were arrested by 2 am, though the celebrations were mostly peaceful apart from the descent into violence in some areas.
Celebrations to continue upon squad’s return to Paris
Meanwhile, the Paris Saint-Germain squad is returning from Munich to the French capital on Sunday to continue celebrating with tens of thousands of the team’s fans.
They are set to arrive in Paris at 4 pm on the club’s own Qatar Airways jet.
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