A moon landing attempt by a private US company appears doomed because of a fuel leak on the newly launched spacecraft. Astrobotic Technology managed to orient the lander toward the sun Monday so its solar panel could capture sunlight and charge its onboard battery. The propulsion system problem was reported hours after a successful liftoff from Florida. Astrobotic was aiming to be the first private company to successfully land on the moon, something only four countries have accomplished. A second lander from a Houston company is due to launch next month. NASA gave the companies millions to build landers and make deliveries to the moon.

Virgin Galactic has rocketed to the edge of space with its first tourists. One passenger bought his ticket 18 years ago. The tourist flight glided back to a runway landing Thursday in the New Mexico desert after the passengers experienced a few minutes of weightlessness. Aboard the plane-launched spacecraft was a former British Olympian with Parkinson's disease, and a mother and daughter from the Caribbean who are contest winners. Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic has now taken seven trips to space since 2018, but this was the first with a ticket-holder. Ticket prices started out at $200,000. Now they're $450,000

Jeff Bezos' rocket company has won a NASA contract to land astronauts on the moon, two years after losing out to SpaceX. Blue Origin received a $3.4 billion contract Friday to develop a lunar lander. It will be used to transport astronauts to the lunar surface as early as 2029, following a pair of crew landings by Elon Musk's SpaceX. NASA wants different landing options as it seeks to return astronauts to the moon decades after the Apollo program. The Artemis program kicked off with a successful test flight late last year, with an empty Orion capsule going into lunar orbit before returning home.