A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched a lunar lander for Intuitive Machines (IM) of Houston, Texas. The mission, IM-1, saw the launch of the first of the IM Nova-C class landers from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 15 at 1:05 AM ET (06:05 UTC). The first launch attempt was scrubbed on Feb. 14 due to off-nominal methane temperatures prior to loading. If the mission successfully lands on the Moon, IM will become the first commercial organization, and the first American spacecraft in over 50 years, to successfully land on the surface of the Moon.
IM-1 is the first of three flights for the Nova-C class lander, which is designed and developed under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract to help support NASA’s Artemis campaign and commercial development on the Moon.