U.S. moon lander Peregrine completes re

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The lunar lander developed by American private company Astrobotic Technology, dubbed Peregrine, has completed its controlled re-entry to Earth over open water in the South Pacific, the company confirmed on Friday.

The lander blasted off on United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket from Florida on Jan. 8. Shortly after separating from the spacecraft, Peregrine experienced a propulsion issue.

The propulsion issue ultimately prevented the lander from softly landing on the moon.

As expected, Astrobotic lost telemetry with the Peregrine spacecraft at around 3:50 p.m. Thursday Eastern Time, according to the company.

"While this indicates the vehicle completed its controlled re-entry over open water in the South Pacific at 4:04 p.m., we await independent confirmation from government entities," said the company in a release.

The company earlier revealed the plan of Peregrine's re-entering Earth's atmosphere and burning up. It would be the best approach to safely and responsibly conclude the mission.

The mission was planned to be the first time an American company sent a spacecraft to the moon, and the first time the United States returned to the lunar surface in more than 50 years.