A SpaceX rocket blasted off Thursday carrying a US agency’s spacecraft on a mission to land on the moon and end America’s 50-year lull.
Known as Nova-C, the spacecraft constructed by Houston-based Intuitive Machines Inc. will try to the touch down on the south facet of the lunar floor on Feb. 22.
If profitable, Intuitive Machines will declare a title that has eluded quite a few firms and nonprofits who’ve shot for the moon in recent times: the primary to land a privately constructed spacecraft on the lunar floor.
Up till now, solely spacecraft constructed and operated by governments, usually with giant worth tags, have made it to the moon’s floor in a single piece. The US hasn’t landed a spacecraft on the moon intact since 1972.
The observe document for firms has been much less profitable.
Industrial spacecraft launched by teams in Israel and Japan have made it to the moon however didn’t survive the touchdown. And in January, Intuitive Machines’ US rival, Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Expertise Inc., launched its moon-bound spacecraft however suffered an engine failure, making a touchdown try unattainable.
Nova-C might be carrying six payloads for NASA and 5 business ones under a contract that has grown to roughly $100 million since being awarded by the US house company in 2019, Intuitive Machines Chief Govt Officer Stephen Altemus advised Bloomberg Information in an interview earlier.
The contract was a part of a NASA program designed to hurry growth of business robotic lunar landers that may carry NASA supplies to the moon.
Because it was engaged on Nova-C, Intuitive went public in a 2022 blank-check deal that put the corporate’s worth at greater than $1 billion. Its present market capitalization is round $481 million, based on knowledge compiled by Bloomberg.
Intuitive Machines additionally plans to construct out a constellation of satellites orbiting the moon for communications and navigation, in addition to develop different lunar house applied sciences.
