Intuitive Machines, the venture-backed startup that went public last year, will send a moon lander to the lunar south pole in 2027 as part of a $116.9 million contract awarded by NASA on Thursday.
This is NASA’s tenth award under its Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program; of these, four have gone to Intuitive Machines. The company will deliver six NASA payloads to the moon as part of the deal, though there will be additional payload capacity on the lander for commercial customers.
The lunar south pole is a region of major scientific interest, due, in part, to the relative abundance of water ice that has been detected there. But the region is notoriously challenging to explore, with many parts permanently in shadow, with extremely low temperatures and rough terrain. Only a single rover has ever briefly explored the region: Indian Space Research Organisation’s Pragyan rover that was deployed from the country’s Chandrayaan-3 lander in August 2023.
One of the six NASA payloads to hitch a ride on this mission is a suite of instruments, designed by the European Space Agency, that will remove subsurface samples of lunar regolith and analyze their composition. The samples will help assess “potential resources on the moon and to prepare technologies that may be used to extract these resources in the future,” the ESA said in a description of the payload.
Other payloads include a radiometer that will explore the composition of the moon’s surface, an instrument that will measure how the spacecraft landing might affect the composition of the regolith and a group of retroreflectors that will help accurately determine the location of the lander. (Retroreflectors were also on Intuitive Machines’ first lunar lander.)
“The instruments on this newly awarded flight will help us achieve multiple scientific objectives and strengthen our understanding of the Moon’s environment,” Chris Culbert, manager of the CLPS initiative, said in a statement. “For example, they’ll help answer key questions about where volatiles — such as water, ice or gas — are found on the lunar surface and measure radiation in the South Pole region, which could advance our exploration efforts on the Moon and help us with continued exploration of Mars.”
Before Intuitive Machines launches this lander, it has two lunar missions in the pipeline that it must complete first: a second lunar mission that is scheduled to launch in the fourth quarter of this year and a mission to the Reiner Gamma region of the moon in 2025.
Intuitive Machines launched its first lunar lander mission in February. While the lander did successfully land on the lunar surface, it came in slightly too quickly and tipped over nearly onto its side. While the landing ultimately ended the mission early, due to the positioning of the lander’s solar panels in relation to the sun, the company says the mission still proved out the lander’s core components and systems.
