SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Launches Intuitive Machines’ Moon-Bound IM-2 Mission
In eight days, on March 6th, Intuitive Machines will attempt to land its Athena lunar lander on the moon - the planned milestone will mark the second U.S. moon landing since 1972 and Intuitive’s second-ever.
(Cape Canaveral, Florida) SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launched the Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ: LUNR) IM-2 mission to a lunar transfer orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida this evening (Feb. 26) at 7.16pm ET (00.16 on Feb. 27); also onboard the ride-share mission is NASA’S Lunar Trailblazer, Astroforge’s Odin and Epic Aerospace’s CHIMERA GEO 1 spacecraft.
Photo of SpaceX’s IM-1 launch thsi evening (Feb. 26) from Cape Canaveral, Florida courtesy of SpaceX’s livestream on X via its @spacex account.
After deployment, Intuitive Machines’ Athena lunar lander will begin its 8-day journey to the Moon’s South Pole and attempt to land on March 6th – the planned milestone will mark the second U.S. moon landing since 1972 and Intuitive’s second-ever moon landing. Last year, Intuitive’s Odysseus lunar lander touched down on the moon on Feb. 22, 2024 after launching from Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 15, 2024.
On the South Pole of the Moon, Athena will help to demonstrate lunar mobility, resource prospecting, and analysis of volatile substances from subsurface materials, according to SpaceX. Nokia’s (NYSE: NOK) cellular technology will be the first to be tested on the moon, according to SpaceX’s pre-launch livestream this evening.
Tonight’s IM-1 launch marks the ninth flight of the first stage booster supporting the mission, which previously launched Crew-8, Polaris Dawn, CRS-31, Astranis: From One to Many, and four Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean, according to a post on SpaceX’s website.
