Technicians work on Astrobotic’s Griffin-1 lander inside a cleanroom at the company’s facility in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Monday, June 15, 2026. Image: Will Robinson-Smith/Spaceflight Now
Astrobotic showed off its nearly completed lunar lander, named Griffin-1, as the vehicle prepares to head to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California for environmental testing later this month.
The robotic lander, which has a 650 kg payload capacity, has been integrated with multiple payloads so far. On exception is Astrolab’s FLIP (FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform) rover. FLIP will meet its lander down at Cape Canaveral for integration in the final weeks ahead of launch later this year.
Dozens gathered on Monday at the Moonshot Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to mark the milestone. The site is adjacent to Astrobotic’s facilities and has a large window into the cleanroom, which allows for public viewing of the ongoing work.
“It’s fantastic to see the cross-section of Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania standing up, coming together, celebrating this big, big moment in space,” said John Thornton, Astrobotic’s CEO.
