NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer And Astroforge’s Odin Spacecrafts Are Struggling: What’s Going On?

New information on the Lunar Trailblazer and the Odin spacecraft from NASA and Astroforge reveals that both spacecraft are facing issues in space. These spacecraft launched to space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launcher on 26 February 2025.

Two Spacecrafts Face Issues In Space Just After Launch

On 27 February 2025, just a day after the launch of the NASA and Astroforge spacecraft, the news appeared that communications with the Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft were lost. During the launch, engineers in charge of coordinating the launch confirmed that they noticed some anomalies in the spacecraft’s power system.

Hours after the loss of connection with the Lunar Trailblazer, NASA engineers were able to restore connections with the spacecraft. Following the reconnection with the Lunar Trailblazer, engineers had to know where the problem was coming from and fix it.

Regarding the Odin spacecraft from Astroforge, hours after its launch into space, the team on the ground were unable to secure a stable connection. According to Matt Gialich, Astroforge CEO, this issue is a result of a failure in the ground-based power amplifier system.

Speaking on the Odin spacecraft, NASA says the firm is now “working with NASA ground stations to reestablish telemetry and commanding to better assess the power system issues and develop potential solutions.” So from a professional standpoint, the Odin mission is far from being over as the issue can be resolved.

Details On The NASA and Astroforge Missions

The Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft is part of the NASA Small Innovative Missions For Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program. While this program expects its projects to exist under the $55 million investment mark, the Lunar Trailblazer cost over $94 million.

This spacecraft will help us better understand the “Moon’s water and geology by determining the form, abundance, and distribution of water across the lunar surface.” For the Astroforge Odin spacecraft, its mission is very different from that of the NASA Lunar Trailblazer.

On its part, the Odin spacecraft’s mission aims to scan for and mine minerals on asteroids. Both missions will better help humans to understand the Moon and asteroids such as the 2022 EB5.