The Luna-H Map satellite propulsion system is faulty, and if it cannot be ignited, it will fail at the end of this month.

Craig Hardgrove, principal investigator of the Arizona State University mission, spoke at the Interplanetary Small Satellite Conference on Monday, May 4, 2019.If the propulsion system of the Luna-H Map cubesat still cannot be ignited, the mission will be officially canceled at the end of May.

IT Home Note: Luna-H Map is the abbreviation of Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper. After liftoff, it plans to orbit the moon and explore the possible water ice reservoirs under its surface.

NASA launched 10 CubeSats, including this one, on November 16, 2022, as secondary payloads for the Artemis 1 mission.

Six of them, including Luna-H Map, were able to send a confirmation signal to the ground team, while the other four failed and were never heard from again.

Luna-H Map’s thrusters use iodine as a propellant, and Hardgrove suspects that the CubeSat may have evaporated during the long wait inside the rocket.