Astrobotic's Peregrine lander meant to land on the Moon has crashed into the Pacific Ocean, ending the ambitious mission in which only few have succeeded. In the morning of January 19, the company announced that it lost telemetry with the lander at around 2:20 am IST indicating its "controlled re-entry" over the South Pacific Ocean and its destruction around 14 minutes later.

As Astrobotic bids Adieu to Peregrine, it shared a stunning video from the onboard camera featuring a striking blue Earth.

(2/2)Peregrine captured this video moments after successful separation from @ulalaunch Vulcan rocket. Counterclockwise from top left center is the DHL MoonBox, Astroscale's Pocari Sweat Lunar Dream Time Capsule, & Peregrine landing leg. Background: our big blue marble, Earth! pic.twitter.com/1y4OsosNDp

— Astrobotic (@astrobotic)

"Peregrine captured this video moments after successful separation from ULA Vulcan rocket. Counterclockwise from top left center is the DHL MoonBox, Astroscale's Pocari Sweat Lunar Dream Time Capsule, & Peregrine landing leg. Background: our big blue marble, Earth!" Astrobotic captioned the post on X.

Launched on January 8 aboard the Vulcan rocket from Florida, the lander suffered a rupture in its tank which caused severe propellant leakage. Since Peregrine needed ample amount of fuel for a precise lunar landing, Astrobotic decided to bring it back to Earth for a crash since a touchdown was no longer feasible.

The company will provide more details about the mission and its end at a NASA press conference scheduled for 11:30 pm IST on January 19.

The Peregrine lander came into existence as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (SLPS) mission. The now-destroyed lander was carrying a total of 20 payloads including five from NASA to study the Moon.