Astrobotic Continues Masten Space Systems Program After Acquisition

Astrobotic focused on developing Xodiac and Xogdor after the acquisition of Masten Space Systems (photo: dock. Astrobotic)

Astrobotic, an interika robotics company, has finished testing Xodiac's first flight. The rocket-powered terrestrial lander has made four flights in Mojave, California.

Xodiac was built several years ago by Masten Space Systems and has made more than 150 flights for a series of investigations. However, all of these flights were in vain because the company went bankrupt in July last year.

After news of the company's bankruptcy broke out, Astrobotic decided to acquire the Masten Space Systems a few months later. After the acquisition took place, Astrobotic focused on developing and maintaining Xodiac.

Xodiac still has a bright future as some space agencies remain loyal to the plane. One of the customers from Xodiac is the United States Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA).

Quoting from Spacenews, Director of Astrobotic Business Development Seanef said that Xodiac has about 20 more flight schedules. This agenda is recorded until the third quarter of next year.

In addition to focusing on Xodiac, Astrobotic is also building a larger suborbital vehicle under the name Xogdor. This development has been initiated by Masten and continued by Astrobotic.

Vehicles capable of flying at high speeds and can exceed the 100-kilometer Kryptrm SIGN will be launched for the first time in early 2025. This vehicle is also claimed to be capable of hosting larger payloads than the Xodiac.

Astrobotic itself believes that Xogdor is capable of revolutionizing suborbital flights and suborbital peroketan. The reason is, Xogdor is also capable of being used for low-gravity flights and able to last longer on Mars or the Moon.