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SpaceX

IM-1 Mission Nova-C Lunar Lander Successfully En Route to the Moon Following Its Launch on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 (Press Release)

HOUSTON (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Intuitive Machines, Inc. (Nasdaq: LUNR, LUNRW) ("Intuitive Machines") ("Company"), a leading space exploration, infrastructure and services company, has announced that its IM-1 mission Nova-C class lunar lander has launched on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and successfully commissioned in space by establishing a stable attitude, solar charging and radio communications contact with the Company’s mission operations center in Houston.

"We are keenly aware of the immense challenges that lie ahead," said Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus. "However, it is precisely in facing these challenges head-on that we recognize the magnitude of the opportunity before us: to softly return the United States to the surface of the Moon for the first time in 52 years."

The IM-1 mission launched from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1:05 a.m. EST on Thursday, February 15, 2024. It reached its intended orbit approximately 48 minutes later and established first communication with the lander at 1:59 a.m. EST.

The Intuitive Machines IM-1 mission is the Company’s first attempted lunar landing as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services ("CLPS") initiative, a key part of NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration efforts. The science and technology payloads sent to the Moon’s surface as part of CLPS intend to lay the foundation for human missions and a sustainable human presence on the lunar surface.

Source: Intuitive Machines

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SpaceX

IM-1 Mission Vehicle Health Update 🧵

1/6 The IM-1 mission Nova-C class lunar lander continues to be in excellent health, and we are preparing for our engine commissioning maneuver.
Following nominal launch vehicle separation, the spacecraft autonomously brought up all sensors… pic.twitter.com/vPdV7fHyWz

— Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) February 16, 2024