Tag: Intuitive Machines
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Intuitive Machines Completes $800 Million Acquisition of Lanteris Space Systems
Intuitive Machines said it has completed the acquisition of Lanteris Space Systems, formerly known as Maxar Space Systems, in a move aimed at transforming the company into a vertically integrated space prime serving defense, civil and commercial customers. The transaction, first announced in November, was completed under unchanged terms, with a purchase price of $800…
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Intuitive Machines to Acquire Lanteris Space Systems in $800 Million Deal
Lunar lander manufacturer Intuitive Machines said on Tuesday it will acquire Lanteris Space Systems, formerly known as Maxar Space Systems, from private equity firm Advent International in a deal valued at $800 million. The transaction, comprising $450 million in cash and $350 million in Intuitive Machines stock, is expected to close in the first quarter…
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Intuitive Machines’ CEO points to issues that prevented upright touchdown during IM-2 Moon landing
Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander, named Athena, is pictured on its side, lying on the Moon’s surface following touchdown on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Image: Intuitive Machines The third attempt to land on the Moon for Houston-based Intuitive Machines is coming up in less than a year and the company said Tuesday it understands how to…
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Athena landed in a dark crater where the temperature was minus 280° F
The Athena spacecraft was not exactly flying blind as it approached the lunar surface one week ago. The software on board did a credible job of recognizing nearby craters, even with elongated shadows over the terrain. However, the lander’s altimeter had failed. So while Athena knew where it was relative to the surface of the…
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After less than a day, the Athena lander is dead on the Moon
Intuitive Machines announced on Friday morning that its Athena mission to the surface of the Moon, which landed on its side, has ended. “With the direction of the Sun, the orientation of the solar panels, and extreme cold temperatures in the crater, Intuitive Machines does not expect Athena to recharge,” the company said in a…
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Intuitive Machines’ second attempt to land on the Moon also went sideways
Inside a small control room, during the middle of the day on Thursday local time in Texas, about a dozen white-knuckled engineers at a space startup named Intuitive Machines started to get worried. Their spacecraft, a lander named Athena, was beginning its final descent down to the lunar surface. A little more than a year…
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Blue Ghost successfully starts lunar surface mission while IM-2 lands sideways
NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program is now seeing more results from the work done by providers to fulfill its task orders in the past few years, though not without challenges. Two robotic lunar landers from different US commercial providers landed on the lunar surface, with one successfully landing upright and starting its mission,…
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Yes, we are about to be treated to a second lunar landing in a week
The Apollo 17 mission landed on the Moon on December 11, in 1972. From that point on, literally for decades, NASA and the United States did not go back to the surface of our nearest planetary body. It was not until February 22, 2024, that another American-built spacecraft made a soft landing on the Moon.…
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Falcon 9 launches second lunar mission of 2025 with IM-2 lander
SpaceX launched its second lunar mission of 2025, just over a month after flying the Firefly Blue Ghost and HAKUTO-R M2 Resilience landers to the Moon atop a single Falcon 9. Another Falcon 9, this time with the Intuitive Machines IM-2 NOVA-C lander on board, launched successfully from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at the Kennedy…
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SpaceX launches Intuitive Machines’ 2nd Moon lander, 3 rideshare spacecraft
A streak shot of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket as it launched the IM-2 mission for Intuitive Machines and sent its Nova-C lander, Athena, to a lunar transfer orbit. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now Intuitive Machines is heading back to the Moon following its first trip a year ago. The company based in Houston, Texas, sent another…