Intuitive Machines Preps for Second Commercial Lunar Launch

The Intuitive Machines lunar lander that will deliver NASA science and technology to the moon as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign is encapsulated in the fairing of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. [Credit: SpaceX]

Intuitive Machines is preparing to launch its second uncrewed lunar lander this week, aiming to deliver NASA science and technology demonstrations to the moon's south pole surface.

Last February, Intuitive Machines' IM-1 mission made history for putting the U.S. back on the moon for the first time in more than 50 years, completing the first successful landing by a private company when its Nova-C autonomous lander Odysseus reached the south pole region.

The latest mission, dubbed IM-2, will launch no earlier than Wednesday on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Intuitive Machines' Nova-C lunar lander, 'Athena'. [Credit: Intuitive Machines]

"Among the items on Intuitive Machines' lander, the IM-2 mission will be one of the first on-site demonstrations of resource use on the Moon," NASA said in a statement. "A drill and mass spectrometer will measure the potential presence of volatiles or gases from lunar soil in Mons Mouton, a lunar plateau in the moon's south pole. In addition, a passive laser retroreflector array (LRA) on the top deck of the lander will bounce laser light back at any orbiting or incoming spacecraft to give future spacecraft a permanent reference point on the lunar surface."

The mission will also include demonstrations of a communication system and the deployment of a propulsive drone "that can hop across the lunar surface," NASA said.

The IM-2 mission represents a "leap forward in lunar exploration," according to the company.

"IM-2 is set to demonstrate lunar mobility, resource prospecting, and analysis of volatile substances from subsurface materials, a critical step toward uncovering water sources beyond Earth—a key component for establishing sustainable infrastructure both on the lunar surface and in space," Intuitive Machines said.