A CRIPPLING FUEL leak has forced a US company to give up on landing a spacecraft on the moon.

Astrobotic Technology’s lander began losing fuel soon after Monday’s launch. The spacecraft also encountered problems keeping its solar panel pointing towards the sun and generating solar power.

“Given the propellant leak, there is, unfortunately, no chance of a soft landing on the moon,” Astrobotic said in a statement.

Astrobotic had been targeting a lunar landing on February 23 after a roundabout, fuel-efficient flight to the moon.

It could have been the first US moon landing in more than 50 years, and the first by a private company. 

A second lander from a Houston company is due to launch next month. Nasa gave the two companies millions to build and fly their own lunar landers.

Only four countries have pulled off a successful moon landing.

The company said the new goal was to keep the lander operating as long as possible in space to learn as much as possible for its next mission a year or so from now.

Flight controllers managed to keep the spacecraft pointing toward the sun and its battery fully charged, with another 40 hours of operations expected.

It soon became apparent, however, that there was “a critical loss of fuel”, further dimming hope for what had been a planned moon landing on 23 February.

The Pittsburgh-based company did not elaborate on why the Peregrine lander’s propellant system failed just hours into the flight.

Nasa paid Astrobotic $108 million dollars (€98 million) to fly its experiments to the moon on this mission, part of the agency’s commercial lunar programme.

Before the flight, Nasa’s Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration, noted that while using private companies to make deliveries to the moon will be cheaper and quicker than going the usual government route, there will be added risk.

He stressed that the space agency was willing to accept that risk, noting yesterday: “Each success and setback are opportunities to learn and grow.”

A key component of PITMS, which will explore the Moon’s atmosphere by measuring water and other molecules, was developed in the UK with £14 million of government funding through the UK’s membership of the European Space Agency.

The data collected will contribute to our understanding of the Moon’s potential to provide resources such as water, opening new possibilities for future human presence on the lunar surface.