U.S. moon lander suffers malfunctions after launch

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- The first U.S. private moon landing mission suffered an anomaly following its launch from the U.S. state of Florida early Monday.

A new rocket developed by U.S. space launch company United Launch Alliance lifted off at 02:18 a.m. Eastern Time (0718 GMT) Monday from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The launch vehicle dispatched Peregrine, the lunar lander developed by the American private company Astrobotic Technology, on its mission to the moon.

Shortly after separating from the spacecraft, Peregrine experienced a propulsion issue.

"After successful propulsion systems activation, Peregrine entered a safe operational state. Unfortunately, an anomaly then occurred, which prevented Astrobotic from achieving a stable sun-pointing orientation," the company said in a release.

According to NASA, the privately designed and developed spacecraft uses novel, industry-developed technology, some of which has never flown in space.

NASA is working with Astrobotic to determine the impact of the agency's five science investigations aboard Peregrine.

The five NASA science and research payloads aboard the lander will help the agency better understand planetary processes and evolution, search for evidence of water and other resources, and support long-term, sustainable human exploration, according to NASA.

Peregrine was the first American commercial lunar lander to launch on a mission to the moon.