Intuitive Machines’ Lunar Landing Mission to Take Place in February

Intuitive Machines has reserved a multi-day window in mid-February to attempt its first moon landing under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.

The IM-1 mission‘s Nova-C lunar lander will travel to the moon’s south pole from onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, Satnews reported Monday.

The mid-February launch window is the earliest scheduling opportunity for the mission, which requires specific lighting conditions.

Intuitive Machines shipped the Nova-C lander to Cape Canaveral, Florida, where it has completed testing and is ready for integration with the Falcon 9 rocket.

Nova-C is expected to transport payloads to advance autonomous navigation by lunar assets. One such technology is Lunar Node 1, an S-band beacon designed to demonstrate the Multi-spacecraft Autonomous Positioning System and other GPS-like navigation capabilities around the moon.

Originally announced in 2021, Nova-C will also carry NASA’s Lunar Vetrex, the Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration, the MoonLIGHT retroreflector and the Lunar Space Environment Monitor.