A US company that developed a lunar lander says the spacecraft appears to have burned up as it reentered the Earth's atmosphere. The firm had earlier abandoned an attempt to land the craft on the moon due to problems with the propulsion system.

Astrobotic Technology's Peregrine lunar lander was launched on January 8 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The company said on Thursday it had Peregrine reenter the Earth's atmosphere so as not to create debris in space. It said it believed the craft burned up over the South Pacific.

The mission was part of US space agency NASA's project to work with the private sector to transport goods to the moon. Peregrine was carrying NASA observation equipment. This could have been the first moon landing by a private company.

Global competition over lunar exploration is heating up. Japan's space agency JAXA successfully landed an uncrewed probe on the moon on Saturday. Another US company is planning to launch a lunar lander as early as next month.