The first private firm to set foot on the moon was Intuitive Machines.
For the first time, the Odysseus spacecraft, which was manufactured by Intuitive Machines and based in Houston, has successfully touched down on the moon’s surface. Not only is it the first time that a spacecraft from a private firm has successfully landed on the surface of the moon, but it is also the first vessel constructed in the United States to reach the moon since the Apollo missions.
Odysseus was carrying instruments that were supposed to be utilized by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to assist in the preparation of future crewed flights to the moon that are part of the Artemis program. On February 22, at 6:23 p.m. Eastern Time, NASA reported that the landing had taken place. The lander was launched from Earth on February 15 with the assistance of a Falcon 9 rocket that was provided by SpaceX.
Your order was delivered… to the Moon! 📦@Int_Machines' uncrewed lunar lander landed at 6:23pm ET (2323 UTC), bringing NASA science to the Moon's surface. These instruments will prepare us for future human exploration of the Moon under #Artemis. pic.twitter.com/sS0poiWxrU
— NASA (@NASA) February 22, 2024
There were some “technical issues with the flight,” as reported by The New York Times, which caused the landing to be delayed for a couple of hours. During an interview with the newspaper, the Chief Technology Officer of Intuitive Machines, Tim Crain, stated that “Odysseus is definitely on the moon and operating, but it remains to be seen whether the mission can achieve its objectives.” In order to send data back down to Earth before darkness sets in and renders the solar-powered craft useless, Odysseus has a restricted window of around one week to do so.
There were other private companies who attempted to land, and Intuitive Machines was not the first. During the previous month, Astrobotic attempted to land its Peregrine lander on the moon, but it was unsuccessful. This year, Intuitive Machines intends to launch two additional lunar landers, according to its plans.