In a historic achievement, a spacecraft named Odysseus, developed and operated by the Texas-based company Intuitive Machines, successfully landed near the south pole of the moon on Thursday.
This marks the first U.S. landing on the lunar surface in over half a century and represents a groundbreaking milestone as the first-ever lunar landing achieved by the private sector.
The uncrewed Odysseus, a six-legged robot lander, executed its touchdown at approximately 6:23 p.m. EST (2323 GMT). The momentous event was broadcast jointly by Intuitive Machines and NASA from the company's LUNR.O mission operations centre in Houston.
The landing was not without its challenges, as a complication arose with the spacecraft's autonomous navigation system during the final approach and descent. Engineers on the ground had to implement an untested workaround at the last minute. Following an anticipated radio blackout, it took some time to re-establish communication with the spacecraft, situated approximately 239,000 miles (384,000 km) from Earth.
When contact was finally reestablished, the signal was faint, confirming the successful touchdown. However, mission control initially faced uncertainty about the precise condition and position of the vehicle, as revealed in the webcast. Intuitive Machines mission director Tim Crain expressed, "Our equipment is on the surface of the moon, and we are transmitting, so congratulations IM team. We'll see what more we can get from that."
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson promptly praised the accomplishment, hailing it as a "triumph" and stating, "Odysseus has taken the moon."
As planned, Odysseus is believed to have landed at a crater named Malapert A near the moon's south pole, according to the webcast. The spacecraft, designed without live video capabilities, landed one day after reaching lunar orbit and a week after its launch from Florida.
This historic landing signifies the first controlled descent to the lunar surface by a U.S. spacecraft since Apollo 17 in 1972, which marked NASA's last crewed moon mission with astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt. Only four other countries— the former Soviet Union, China, India, and Japan last month—have achieved lunar landings to date, with the United States being the sole nation to send humans to the lunar surface.
Odysseus is equipped with scientific instruments and technology demonstrations for NASA and commercial customers. It is designed to operate for seven days on solar energy before the sun sets over the polar landing site. NASA's payload aims to collect data on space weather interactions, radio astronomy, and other lunar environmental aspects for future landers and the planned return of astronauts later in the decade.
The IM-1 mission, part of NASA's Artemis lunar program, was launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket by Elon Musk's SpaceX from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, last Thursday.
The successful landing by Odysseus also marks the first "soft landing" on the moon by a commercially manufactured and operated vehicle and the first under NASA's Artemis lunar program. NASA plans to land its first crewed Artemis mission in late 2026, aiming for long-term, sustained lunar exploration and eventual human flights to Mars.
The initiative focuses on the moon's south pole due to the presumed presence of frozen water that can be used for life support and rocket fuel production.
Odysseus's achievement sets the stage for smaller landers under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, designed to deliver instruments and hardware to the moon at lower costs compared to traditional agency-led missions.
While celebrating this milestone, the risks associated with relying more on smaller, less experienced private ventures were acknowledged. Just last month, another company's lunar lander experienced a propulsion system leak shortly after being placed in orbit.
Odysseus, while part of NASA's CLPS program, is considered an Intuitive Machines mission. The company, co-founded in 2013 by Stephen Altemus, former deputy director of NASA's Johnson Space Center and now the company's president and CEO, represents the latest success in the flourishing era of commercial space ventures driven by technological advancements.
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