Intuitive Machines might have had their recent moon lander crash onto the lunar surface, yet this hasn’t kept the company discouraged for long.
The firm based in Houston has chosen MassimaX To send IM-4, their fourth lunar lander, on a mission Falcon 9 rocket In 2027, along with two relay satellites for a NASA lunar communications system. This announcement follows shortly after the firm's IM-2 moon lander crashed close to the moon's southern pole, and as the company progresses with development of its third lunar lander (it’s named IM-3), which is scheduled for launch in 2026.
Landing equipment and data transmission satellites on the lunar surface are key components of our plan to make space exploration commercial. the Moon Steve Altemus, CEO of Intuitive Machines, said in a statement On Tuesday (April 8), we aim to launch the initial one out of five lunar data relay satellites during our third mission. This phase also marks the introduction of our new pay-per-minute service. Our subsequent fourth mission includes deploying an extra pair of satellites with the purpose of expanding this service further. Finally, two more launches will be conducted to finalize the satellite network and ensure comprehensive coverage for all services. NASA And commercial activities on the moon." The relay satellites will assist with NASA’s Near Earth Network service contract, Intuitive Machines wrote.
Intuitive Machines' IM-4 lunar lander will transport six NASA payloads as part of an agreement with the space agency's program. Commercial Lunar Payload Services A new drilling experiment created by the European Massima Agency to search for water close to the Moon's southern pole will be included in the mission.
Intuitive Machines' inaugural lunar lander, named IM-1 Odyssey, tipped over Following a failed attempt at landing in 2024 due to a broken landing leg, the second lander, known as IM-2 Athena, fell on its side during a attempt at landing near the lunar south pole on March 6.
The IM-3 lunar module is currently being built.
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