NASA Provides Somber Update On Eerily Silent Lunar Trailblazer Moon Orbiter

After five months of trying to reestablish contact with the lost NASA Lunar Trailblazer, the agency has released a sad update: the mission is over. NASA launched the Lunar Trailblazer in February 2025 to orbit the moon and investigate its water. It was intended to help future moon missions and improve our understanding of how water behaves on airless planets and moons.

The Lunar Trailblazer lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket around 7:16 PM EST on February 26 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. However, it vanished just one day later, when NASA lost contact with the spacecraft. Ever since, the mission team has tried to restore connections, working with various organizations worldwide, but to no avail.

Without necessary communications, the team could not keep the spacecraft on the right path. They also could not figure out the details of the spacecraft's issue, except for some data that suggested its solar panels did not properly face the sun, causing the batteries to run down.


NASA at some point hoped that, after drifting away from the Moon (you can find out what time it is on the Moon) to an extent, the spacecraft might receive enough sunlight to power on its radio. But it has been five months, and now telecommunications signals would be too weak to send data or receive commands. Therefore, on July 31, 2025, NASA terminated the Lunar Trailblazer mission.

Nicky Fox, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, issued the following remark: "While it was not the outcome we had hoped for, mission experiences like Lunar Trailblazer help us to learn and reduce the risk for future, low-cost small satellites to do innovative science as we prepare for a sustained human presence on the Moon." He then expressed appreciation to the Lunar Trailblazer team, thanking them for their commitment and hard work.