Pittsburgh’s Astrobotic Lands $4M Grant for HQ

The Pittsburgh company launching a lunar lander on Christmas Eve has long attracted support from NASA and has leveraged the technology and robotics talent coming out of local universities.

Now, that company has support from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which this month gave Astrobotic Technologies a $4 million grant to help develop its headquarters on the Pittsburgh’s North Side.

The grant reflects Pennsylvania’s strong interest in developing a space industry in the Pittsburgh region, Gov. Josh Shapiro said.

“My administration is working hard to help companies like Astrobotic grow and thrive so they can continue to focus on making history. We’ll continue to invest in their success to ensure the next innovation happens here,” Shapiro said.

Like other notable Pittsburgh tech startups, Astrobotic’s roots are at Carnegie Mellon University: Professor William “Red” Whittaker, widely regarded as the father of field robotics, co-founded the company in 2007.

“We’re deeply grateful to the governor for his support of Astrobotic’s growth plans. We believe Astrobotic’s latest expansion is a clear indicator of new high-tech growth in the commonwealth, particularly in the space industry,” said John Thornton, Astrobotic CEO.

First Moon landing in 50 years

Since its founding, Astrobotic has evolved and grown into a “lunar logistics provider,” a sort of combined travel agent and freight forwarder for space travel. The company now partners with private businesses and government agencies around the world to develop and deliver scientific equipment and experiments to the Moon.

The company also develops advanced space robotics capabilities, such as terrain relative navigation and mobile robotics for lunar surface operations.

In October, the company’s Peregrine lunar lander arrived safely in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and unloaded at Astrotech facilities, where it will be integrated with the United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan for launch on Dec. 24.