Tag: Intuitive Machines
-
Fueling a spacecraft while it’s on a rocket? “Not trivial,” SpaceX official says.
Are you ready for round two of the lunar lottery? As early as Thursday morning, a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a privately developed lunar lander may launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The vehicle, built by a Houston-based company called Intuitive Machines, will be the second US-made lunar lander to launch from Florida in…
-
SpaceX, Intuitive Machines launches robotic lander to the Moon
Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander, named ‘Odysseus,’ displayed prior to encapsulation inside a pair of SpaceX Falcon 9 payload fairings. Image: SpaceX Update 2:10 p.m. EST: The Nova-C lander successfully separated from the spacecraft and teams were able to acquire signal with the lander. A launch pad billed as the Apollo program’s “Moonport” once again honored…
-
Three robotic missions target Moon landings over one week in January
Intuitive Machines engineers loading the IM-1 mission Nova-C lunar lander into its custom container in Houston, TX. Image: Intuitive Machines In a blend of interesting circumstances and happenstance, two private companies and Japan’s space agency are all poised to land on the Moon in the back half of January 2024. The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency…
-
Private astronaut mission likely first to use SpaceX’s new crew access tower
The crew access arm is manuevered into place on the newly constructed tower at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now. A crew access arm was lifted into place at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral on Monday, as SpaceX races to ready the pad for its first Crew Dragon…
-
Intuitive Machines targets launch to the Moon in mid-January
The completed Nova-C lander for the IM-1 mission is photographed in mid-October at Intuitive Machines’ facilities in Houston, Texas, ahead of it being shipped to Cape Canaveral, Florida. Image: Intuitive Machines The first lunar lander aiming for a touchdown at the Moon’s south pole has a new launch date. Intuitive Machines said Friday it is…
-
Intuitive Machines targets launch to the Moon in mid-January
The completed Nova-C lander for the IM-1 mission is photographed in mid-October at Intuitive Machines’ facilities in Houston, Texas, ahead of it being shipped to Cape Canaveral, Florida. Image: Intuitive Machines The first lunar lander aiming for a touchdown at the Moon’s south pole has a new launch date. Intuitive Machines said Friday it is…
-
It’s crunch time for companies building NASA’s commercial lunar landers
Within a few months, NASA may celebrate the first successful landing of an American spacecraft on the Moon in more than 50 years. This would be an immense confidence boost for commercial startups with an eye on the nascent market for lunar missions. It would also signal to NASA that it can rely on commercial…
-
Intuitive Machines says it is ready to fly to the Moon
A Houston-based company that is one of several US firms building private lunar landers, Intuitive Machines, says its 3-meter-tall Nova-C lander is finally ready to take to the skies. “Our Nova-C lander is completely built,” said Steve Altemus, co-founder and chief executive of Intuitive Machines, in an earnings call on Monday. “We will deliver a…
-
NASA’s commercial lunar program ready to start flying in 2023
The NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program is on the verge of flying its first missions to the lunar surface this year after delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors. CLPS will deliver science to the lunar surface in support of the Artemis human lunar program and was announced in April 2018…
-
Spaceflight Inc. unveils a new breed of orbital tug that’s built for far-out missions
An artist’s conception shows the Sherpa-ES orbital transfer vehicle. (Spaceflight Inc. Graphic) When a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sends a robotic lander to the moon’s south pole, perhaps as early as next year, Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc. plans to make a few extra deliveries with its own piggyback spacecraft. The mission, known as GEO Pathfinder, will…