Intuitive Machines to take its shot at reaching the moon with first non-public lunar lander

Intuitive Machines is trying to succeed the place previous ventures have failed with its inaugural lunar lander mission, which might mark the primary time a personal firm has landed a spacecraft on the moon — ever.

The mission is poised to carry off on a SpaceX rocket at 12:57 a.m. EST tomorrow from the launch firm’s pad at Florida’s Kennedy Area Middle. Ought to the launch be delayed, SpaceX could have further alternatives on February 15 and 16.

Ought to all the things go to plan, after a roughly seven-day journey the spacecraft will enter lunar orbit. Round 24 hours later, on February 22, the Nova-C lander will make a comfortable landing on the moon’s floor. The lander is focusing on an space close to a crater known as Malapert A close to the lunar south pole, an space that’s suspected to be house to plentiful frozen water.

The 2 corporations introduced they have been a “go” for launch on Monday, saying in an announcement that it had accomplished evaluation of information from the ultimate lunar lander fueling checks. These checks have been crucial due to Nova-C lander’s distinctive propellant system: It’s utilizing liquid oxygen and methane propellants that should be loaded whereas the lander is encapsulated within the Falcon 9. (Normally spacecraft are fueled earlier than being loaded onto the rocket.)

The IM-1 mission — a primary for Intuitive Machines — marks the second time this 12 months {that a} U.S. firm is trying to land a spacecraft on the moon. The primary mission, performed by Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Know-how, got here to a really fast demise after the spacecraft suffered a catastrophic propulsion leak.

Intuitive Machines’ mission additionally follows that of Japanese agency ispace, whose personal lander skilled a software program glitch simply above the lunar floor, which precipitated the spacecraft to misjudge its distance from the floor and crash.

Certainly, the current successes on the lunar floor might be claimed by governments, particularly that of India’s Chandrayaan-3 moon mission last August and Japan’s SLIM lander that touched down (upside down) in January. However touchdown on the moon is difficult, and even nations have had failures; a current notable instance is Israel’s Beresheet lander, which additionally crashed into the moon in 2019.

The 14-foot-tall spacecraft is carrying six scientific and analysis payloads for NASA, which commissioned the launch for round $118 million as a part of its Business Lunar Payload Companies (CLPS) program. Astrobotic was additionally a CLPS awardee. The lander, known as Odysseus, can even be carrying payloads for a handful of business prospects.

However whether or not or not it succeeds at this primary mission, Intuitive Machines has already scored further NASA contracts for 2 extra moon missions: one that would happen within the fourth quarter of this 12 months and a 3rd scheduled in early 2025.

SpaceX will host a stay present of the launch on its web site.