Tag: Nova-C
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Space Science in 2026: New lunar explorers, Mars missions, and space telescopes
With many missions on the manifest, the new year promises to be packed with space science. Two interplanetary spacecraft will arrive at their destinations as another Mars window opens in late 2026. Meanwhile, multiple space telescopes have their launch dates set for this year, and the schedule promises an increased cadence for lunar missions. The…
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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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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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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…
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Intuitive Machines’ ‘Odysseus’ becomes first commercial lander to reach the Moon
Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander named Odysseus cruises over the near side of the Moon on Feb. 21, 2024, a day ahead of its scheduled landing attempt. Image: Intuitive Machines Update 8:30 p.m. EST: Intuitive Machines confirmed that the lander is upright and sending data. In a day not seen since the Dec. 11, 1972, a…
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Intuitive Machines’ Moon lander Odysseus reaches lunar orbit
A image of Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander named ‘Odysseus’ captured by one of the spacecraft’s onboard cameras. Image: Intuitive Machines Updated to include the new target landing time. Achieving a successful lunar landing becomes increasingly more tangible for the team at Intuitive Machines with each passing day since launch. On Wednesday, the Houston-based company announced…
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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…
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Launch Roundup: Falcon 9’s 300th Flight and SpaceX to launch lunar lander
On the week of the sixth anniversary of the first flight of Falcon Heavy, SpaceX launched four separate Falcon 9 missions. Meanwhile, Roscosmos resupplied the International Space Station (ISS) with Progress MS-26 launching on Soyuz. Early Thursday morning, Falcon 9 launched from SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) taking NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud,…
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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…
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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…