{"id":12920,"date":"2019-10-02T20:40:13","date_gmt":"2019-10-02T12:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/intuitive-machines-selects-spacex-to-launch-commercial-lunar-lander\/"},"modified":"2019-10-02T20:40:13","modified_gmt":"2019-10-02T12:40:13","slug":"intuitive-machines-selects-spacex-to-launch-commercial-lunar-lander","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/intuitive-machines-selects-spacex-to-launch-commercial-lunar-lander\/","title":{"rendered":"Intuitive Machines selects SpaceX to launch commercial lunar lander"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Artist\u2019s illustration of an Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander during launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Credit: Intuitive Machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Intuitive Machines confirmed plans Wednesday to launch a commercial lunar lander aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida\u2019s Space Coast in 2021 on a mission to deliver multiple payloads to the moon, including up to five science instruments for NASA.<\/p>\n

The Houston-based company\u2019s first robotic Nova-C lander will carry up to 220 pounds, or 100 kilograms, of payloads to the moon\u2019s surface. Launch and landing are scheduled for July 2021, according to Trent Martin, vice president of aerospace systems at Intuitive Machines.<\/p>\n

Intuitive Machines previously stated plans to launch the first Nova-C mission on a SpaceX rocket, but Martin said in an interview Wednesday that the company held a \u201cfully open competition\u201d among multiple launch service providers before signing a contract for a Falcon 9 launch.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Intuitive Machines said it \u201cultimately selected SpaceX for its proven record of reliability and outstanding value.\u201d The company said the Nova-C mission will take off from pad 39A at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<\/p>\n

Intuitive Machines is one of three companies selected by NASA in May to carry government-sponsored science instruments to the moon through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, program.<\/p>\n

Astrobotic, a Pittsburgh-based company, announced in August that its Peregrine lunar lander will fly into space aboard the first flight of United Launch Alliance\u2019s next-generation Vulcan Centaur rocket. NASA terminated the CLPS task order of another company, OrbitBeyond, in July.<\/p>\n

The CLPS missions are designed to provide transportation for science instruments to the moon in advance of a human landing planned under NASA\u2019s Artemis program.<\/p>\n

\u201cIntuitive Machines is thrilled to sign with SpaceX to take Nova-C on its first mission to the moon,\u201d said Steve Altemus, the company\u2019s president and CEO, in a statement. \u201cSpaceX\u2019s ability to make low-cost quality lunar transport is paramount to completing NASA\u2019s Commercial Lunar Payload Services contract and Intuitive Machines becoming the first commercial company to land on the moon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re honored that Intuitive Machines selected Falcon 9, SpaceX\u2019s tried and true workhorse, for this pioneering mission to the moon, said Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX. \u201cOur partnership with Intuitive Machines is a great example of two private companies working together with NASA to advance space exploration.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nova-C lander will likely launch on a rideshare mission with other spacecraft on the same Falcon 9 rocket, Martin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t specify it in that way, but essentially, we\u2019re a primary (payload),\u201d Martin said. \u201cThe reason it\u2019s a rideshare is we weigh 1,700 kilograms (about 3,750 pounds), so they have remaining mass available.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nova-C lander could launch into an elliptical geostationary transfer orbit, or GTO, a common drop-off for large communications satellites with a high point tens of thousands of miles above Earth. In that case, the Nova-C spacecraft would use its own propulsion system for a trans-lunar injection, or TLI, maneuver to escape Earth\u2019s orbit and fly to the moon.<\/p>\n

\u201cDepending on their rideshare, they could have someone that goes to GTO and we can do our own TLI, or there\u2019s a possibility they could throw us (directly toward the moon), so we\u2019re protecting for both,\u201d Martin said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The Nova-C lander\u2019s main engine and control thrusters will burn methane mixed with liquid oxygen. Both propellants must be stored at temperature between minus 250 and minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit to remain in liquid form.<\/p>\n

Martin said SpaceX offered Intuitive Machines a unique arrangement to load cryogenic propellants on the Nova-C lander through a fluid connector into the rocket\u2019s payload fairing until the final minutes before liftoff.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the key reasons we went with SpaceX for our launch is that we are getting a top-off of LOX (liquid oxygen) and methane very late, in fact, almost up to launch,\u201d Martin told Spaceflight Now. \u201cThat allows us to top off and keep it full up until launch, which was our biggest concern when it came to cryogenic storage. Once we\u2019re in space, our system, although it\u2019s a cryogenic system, is fairly easy to store, and our mission duration is fairly short. So we can do that with some relatively nominal efforts for storing cryogens in space.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket launch. Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Nova-C lander\u2019s first mission will be relatively short, Martin said. Mission planners anticipate around six days from launch until the spacecraft\u2019s landing on the moon, and the Nova-C lander is designed to operate on the surface for around 13-and-a-half days during one lunar day.<\/p>\n

The short duration of the mission will mitigate concerns about boil-off of methane and liquid oxygen in space, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do an extremely fast mission to the moon,\u201d Martin said. \u201cFrom the time that we launch until the time that we land is only a few days. That\u2019s one of the advantages of having a big rocket.\u201d<\/p>\n

The methane-fueled main engine on the Nova-C lander can be throttled to control the craft\u2019s descent to the lunar surface. Methane is more efficient than other propellants, such as hydrazine, and could be produced using resources on other planets, such as Mars.<\/p>\n

The Nova-C traces much of its design heritage to Project Morpheus, a tech demo project led by engineers at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center that tested a methane-fueled descent engine, hazard avoidance sensors, and other lunar landing hardware during a series of tests at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida from 2012 through 2014.<\/p>\n

Intuitive Machines is designing larger landers to carry heavier payloads of up to a metric ton to the moon, according to Martin.<\/p>\n

In May, Altemus said the Nova-C lander is fully funded to complete development for its first mission. Martin reiterated that in an interview Wednesday.<\/p>\n

About 121 pounds (55 kilograms) of the lander\u2019s 220-pound payload allotment is filled for the first mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re actively pursuing other customers to fill up that remainder,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor this first mission, the business case closes, but we prefer not to launch with empty space,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

NASA tasked Intuitive Machines with a $77 million contract to deliver up to five science payloads to the Ocean of Storms region of the moon on the first Nova-C mission.<\/p>\n

The payloads flying on the first Nova-C mission include a navigation doppler lidar for range measurements during descent, stereo cameras, a navigation demo payload, sensors to conduct radio wave observations, and a retroreflector.<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Artist\u2019s illustration of an Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander during launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Credit: Intuitive Machines Intuitive Machines confirmed plans Wednesday to launch a commercial lunar lander aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida\u2019s Space Coast in 2021 on a mission to deliver multiple payloads to the moon, including up to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[304,322,291,479,503,25,2505,625],"class_list":["post-12920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-artemis","tag-clps","tag-commercial-space","tag-falcon-9","tag-intuitive-machines","tag-launch","tag-methane","tag-moon"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12920"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12920\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}