THE AMERICAN MANUFACTURER OF AEROSPACE EQUIPMENT DECLARED BANKRUPTCY

Masten Space is one of the firms that won a contract from the American Space Agency for cargo delivery services to the moon. The space Agency has signed a contract under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, paying for commercial companies to deliver equipment to the surface of the Moon.

The company developed the XL-1 lander, receiving $75.9 million from NASA in April 2020. This included the delivery of the Moon Ranger rover and eight scientific payloads. The mission was planned to take place in 2022. However, plans have changed, and the launch was postponed to November 2023.

According to analysts, financial difficulties forced the company to reduce the number of employees working on the XL-1 project. 

For several months in a row, key specialists left the company.

In March, Ruben Garcia, who led the technical process of creating landing systems, left the company. In April, CEO Sean Mahoney, who had been working at the company since December 2010, announced his departure. About 20 employees were laid off on June 24, and 15 of them are engineers who worked directly on the XL-1 project.

The consequences of the pandemic caused the company's debt to creditors. 

The largest of them are SpaceX ($4.6 million), Psionic LLC ($2.8 million), Astrobotic Technology ($2.7 million), NuSpace ($1.7 million) and Frontier Aerospace ($1.2 million).

NASA said in a statement that the initial contract amount of $75.9 million was increased by $5.4 million, reaching $81.3 million. At the moment, the firm has already received $66.1 million.

The company stated that it has a preliminary contract for the purchase of assets with Intuitive Machines, also engaged in the development of lunar vehicles. The agreement guarantees the sale of the asset, but the company does not lose hope of concluding a more profitable contract concluded during the restructuring process.

The press service informs that Masten Space plans to continue working. However, some experts look at the situation differently, concluding that investors plan to reduce their losses by selling the company's assets to those who wish.