Cape Canaveral: A US company’s lunar lander has burnt up in Earth’s atmosphere after a failed moonshot. The space vehicle also contained the remains of two of science fiction’s most famous figures.

Astrobotic Technology said on X, formerly Twitter, it had lost contact with its lander indicating it had re-entered the atmosphere over the South Pacific on Friday, on its way back from the vicinity of the moon. It said it would await confirmation from government entities.

Astrobotic worked with NASA to track the lander’s path and said it would pose no safety risk during its fiery re-entry.

The lander, named Peregrine, carried not just a rover from Carnegie Mellon University and other privately sponsored research, but also the ashes and DNA from about 70 people, including the creator of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, and science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, who co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

It left from Cape Canaveral, in Florida, on Monday.

It quickly developed a fuel leak that forced the company to abandon its attempt to make the first US lunar landing in more than 50 years. The company suspected a stuck valve caused a tank to rupture.

Astrobotic said it had consulted with NASA and other government officials on how best to end the mission.