Launch of Intuitive Machines Nova-C Moon Lander on SpaceX Falcon 9

Launch of Intuitive Machines Nova-C Moon Lander on SpaceX Falcon 9

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 Moon mission with the Odysseus (Odie) Nova-C lunar lander to a lunar transfer orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on February 15, 2024, at 06:05 UTC (01:05am EST).

Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage landed on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Falcon 9’s first stage (B1060) previously supported 17 missions: Transporter-2, GPS-III Space Vehicle 03, Turksat-5A, Intelsat G-33/G-34, Transporter-6 and 12 Starlink missions.

If all goes well, IM-1 will become the first American spacecraft to set down softly on the Moon’s surface since the NASA Apollo 17 moon landing in 1972.

China's Chang'e 3 Mission, the first Chinese landing on the Moon in 2013, was the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976.

In 2023, after the Chandrayaan-3 Lander successfully soft-landed on the Moon, India became the fourth country, after the United States, Russia and China, to accomplish this.

NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative allows NASA to send science investigations and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface. Under Artemis, NASA will study more of the Moon than ever before, and CLPS will demonstrate how NASA is working with commercial companies to achieve robotic lunar exploration.

Learn more about CLPS:

https://www.nasa.gov/content/commercial-lunar-payload-services

Image Credit: SpaceX

Release Date: Feb. 15, 2024

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