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Tuesday, August 15, 2023

Intuitive Machines Sets Date for Launch of Their Lunar Lander

The first private lunar landing mission to come from NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services may have just switched from the Astrobotic Peregrine to the Nova-C from Intuitive Machines.  From SpaceNews.com:

The company announced Aug. 14 as part of its second quarter financial results that its IM-1 lunar lander mission is slated for launch on a Falcon 9 during a six-day window that opens Nov. 15 at Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. A backup launch window is available in December.

I assume the mission designation IM-1 means Intuitive Machines One.  

The reason the Nova-C is going before Peregrine isn't some leader somewhere deciding one deserves to fly more than the other, it's that the Peregrine has been scheduled to ride on the first flight of the Vulcan Centaur and Vulcan is grounded while Falcon 9s are flying routinely - a few times per week.  Granted, LC 39A is a busy place because it gets reconfigured from Falcon 9s for Falcon Heavies or for Falcons carrying Dragon capsules, whether for cargo or crewed flights.  If ULA completes the fixes for Vulcan faster than expected and LC-39A is more backed up than expected, it could return to the original order.

As of this writing, there has not been a successful lunar landing by private company, or any entity besides the USA, the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China.  That could change by the end of this month with both India and Russia having landers enroute to the lunar south pole region.

During the quarterly earnings call, CEO Steve Altemus said the testing on the Nova-C lander for IM-1 was wrapping up and they expected to ship the lander to Cape Canaveral "in September." 

IM-1 is not only the first lunar lander mission by Intuitive Machines but also potentially the first lander as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.

Computer rendering showing the Intuitive Machines' Nova-C lander on the surface of the moon with Earth in the background. (Image credit: Intuitive Machines)  (and yes, that is the logo of Columbia Sportswear.  Sponsorship ?) 

 

 

7 comments:

  1. The way the launch date for Vulcan and New Glenn keep slipping, Starship will be available for ridesharing before either V or NG are ready.

    Isn't a private Israeli company trying to get another lander launched soon?

    Seems private landers on the Moon are the next big thing.

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    1. SpaceIL is the Israeli company, I keep a watch on them, I am on their mailing list.

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    2. Igor, do you know the status of their next attempt? I know they're working on another try, but not how close to trying they are and couldn't find a version of their website written in Southern.

      I saw a headline a few days ago that there are going to more CLPS missions within the next year but couldn't remember where to look for that.

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    3. SpaceIL on pause due to funding. https://spacenews.com/second-israeli-lunar-lander-faces-funding-uncertainty/

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  2. My ill informed opinion is that what we see here is the beginning of commercial interest overtaking that of government for exploitation of space. Yes government will still be launching military and purely governmental probes, but why rely on expensive and not very reliable time wise Boeing and Lockheed vehicles for the large majority of space exploitation.

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    1. Your opinion is not necessarily "ill informed". Boeing, ULA, Lockmart keep screwing the pooch. SpaceX soldiers on...

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  3. It will be interesting to see how the Indian and Russian lunar landings go. If either succeeds, the media will yawn at CLPS. I hope the Nova-C rover (the rover on the Intuitive Machines lander) is a spectacular success.

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