By Jackie Wattles and Kristin Fisher, CNN

(CNN) — Just hours after launching from Florida toward the moon early Monday morning, the first US lunar lander to take off in five decades is in jeopardy. The spacecraft was able to put itself into the correct position after suffering what was likely a propulsion issue while on its way to the moon — but it’s not yet clear whether the lander will be able to finish its mission.

Astrobotic Technology, the commercial company that developed the Peregrine lunar lander, posted on social media that the company was initially able to make contact with the vehicle after its 2:18 a.m. ET launch, but then the mission hit a snag that left the vehicle pointed away from the sun and unable to charge its battery.

In an update issued on social media on Monday, Astrobotic said that it believes the likely cause of the problem “is a propulsion anomaly that, if proven true, threatens the ability of the spacecraft to soft land on the Moon.”

Astrobotic initially said that the anomaly — an aerospace term for an issue or problem that threatens a mission — “prevented Astrobotic from achieving a stable sun-pointing orientation,” the company posted on X at 9:37 a.m. ET. “The team is responding in real time as the situation unfolds and will be providing updates as data is obtained and analyzed.”

A sun-facing position is typically necessary to provide solar power for charging a spacecraft’s batteries.

Mission controllers then “developed and executed an improvised maneuver to reorient the solar panels toward the Sun,” according to the company.

That effort proved successful, Astrobotic said.

“The team’s improvised maneuver was successful in reorienting Peregrine’s solar array towards the Sun. We are now charging the battery,” the company said in an update posted at 12:34 pm ET.

Still, it’s not clear whether the company can correct the underlying propulsion issue. The spacecraft will need to use its on board thrusters to make a soft touchdown on the moon, which the vehicle was slated to attempt on February 23.

From launch to a lunar trajectory

The lunar lander, called Peregrine after the fastest bird in the world, appeared to have a wholly successful first leg of its trip after lifting off atop a Vulcan Centaur rocket developed by the joint Lockheed Martin and Boeing venture United Launch Alliance.

It was the first ever flight of a Vulcan Centaur rocket, a new vehicle from ULA designed to replace its older lineup of rockets.

The company confirmed just after 3 a.m. ET that the Vulcan Centaur performed as expected, delivering the Peregrine lunar lander into a trans-lunar injection orbit, according to ULA. That involves a precisely timed engine burn that pushed the Peregrine lander onto a path in Earth’ orbit that should allow it to sync up with the moon some 384,400 kilometers (238,855 miles) away.

The Peregrine lander was then expected to fire up its own onboard thrusters, using up to three maneuvers to pinpoint its path.

In a statement, Astrobotic said only that Peregrine successfully began communicating with NASA’s Deep Space Network, activated its avionics systems, and “the thermal, propulsion, and power controllers, all powered on and performed as expected.”

“After successful propulsion systems activation, Peregrine entered a safe operational state,” the company said.

It was after that, however, that the Peregrine lander experienced the “anomaly” — an aerospace industry term referring to an aspect of a mission that is abnormal or not as planned.

Peregrine mission stakes

Pittsburgh-based company Astrobotic Technology developed Peregrine under a $108 million contract with NASA. The vehicle was designed from the outset to be relatively cheap — aiming to fulfill NASA’s vision to reduce the cost of putting a robotic lander on the moon by asking the private sector to compete for such contracts.

Astrobotic CEO John Thornton told CNN on January 2 that he viewed this first launch as a test mission.

“This really is like a 50-50 shots on goal kind of an approach — where it’s really more about the industry succeeding, not any specific one mission,” Thornton said.

Joel Kearns, the deputy associate administrator for exploration at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, issued a statement Monday, saying, “Each success and setback are opportunities to learn and grow. We will use this lesson to propel our efforts to advance science, exploration, and commercial development of the Moon.”

In a statement, NASA added that it plans to continue sharing updates as more information becomes available and expects that the space agency’s administrator, Bill Nelson, will make remarks later today.

Still, if the moon mission fails, it could be a major loss for Astrobotic, NASA and other countries and institutions with payloads aboard the Peregrine lander.

A loss of the lander so early in the mission would mean that Astrobotic is not able to test the vehicle’s ability to land on the lunar surface.

On board the Peregrine vehicle are five scientific instruments from NASA and 15 other payloads from a variety of organizations and countries. The commercial payloads on the lander include mementos and even human remains that paying customers had paid to fly to the lunar surface.