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Intuitive Machinesis looking to succeed where past speculation have failed with its inaugural lunar lander delegacy , which would notice the first time a secret party has set ashore a spacecraft on the Sun Myung Moon — ever .
The mission is poised to lift off on a SpaceX rocket at 12:57 a.m. EST tomorrow from the launching company ’s pad at Florida ’s Kennedy Space Center . Should the launching be delayed , SpaceX will have extra opportunities on February 15 and 16 .
Should everything go to plan , after a just about seven - day journeying the ballistic capsule will enter lunar orbit . Around 24 hours later , on February 22 , the Nova - C lander will make a soft touchdown on the Sun Myung Moon ’s surface . The lander is point an area near a crater squall Malapert A near the lunar south pole , an area that is suspect to be home to ample stock-still water supply .
The two companies announced they were a “ go ” for launching on Monday , saying in a statement that it had complete analysis of data from the final lunar lander fueling tests . Those tests were critical because of Nova - C lander ’s alone propellant system : It is using smooth oxygen and methane propellants that must be dilute while the lander is encapsulate in the Falcon 9 . ( Usually spacecraft are fueled before being load onto the skyrocket . )
The IM-1 mission — a first for Intuitive Machines — marks the 2nd meter this class that a U.S. company is attempting to land a space vehicle on the moon . The first military mission , conduct by Pittsburgh - based Astrobotic Technology , came to a very quick demise after the spacecraftsuffered a catastrophic propulsion making water .
Intuitive Machines ’ mission also follow that of Japanese firm ispace , whose own lander experienced a package glitch just above the lunar surface , which caused the ballistic capsule to misjudge its length from the open and clangoring .
Indeed , the recent successes on the lunar surface can be claimed by governments , specifically that of India’sChandrayaan-3 moon mission last Augustand Japan ’s SLIM lander that touched down ( upside down ) in January . But landing on the moon is backbreaking , and even nations have had bankruptcy ; a recent famed example is Israel ’s Beresheet lander , which also go down into the moon in 2019 .
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The 14 - foot - marvellous ballistic capsule is bear six scientific and inquiry load for NASA , which commissioned the launch for around $ 118 million as part of its Commercial Lunar Payload Services ( CLPS ) program . Astrobotic was also a CLPS awardee . The lander , called Odysseus , will also be carrying payloads for a smattering of commercial client .
But whether or not it succeeds at this first missionary station , Intuitive Machines has already scored additional NASA contracts for two more lunar month missions : one that could take place in the fourth quarter of this year and a third schedule in early 2025 .
SpaceXwill host a live show of the launch on its website .
