Jane Edwards
Intuitive Machines will support NASA’s priority objectives for the Artemis program by redirecting the landing site of its first mission to the South Pole Region on the moon.
The company said Monday the IM-1 mission is scheduled to deploy its Nova-C lander to the lunar surface’s South Pole region by late June.
“Redirecting Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 mission landing site is a testament to our collective commitment to supporting NASA’s Artemis Program and advancing lunar exploration for the benefit of humanity,” said Steve Altemus, co-founder, president and CEO of Intuitive Machines.
In May 2019, the space technology company received a $77 million contract from NASA under the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program to fly up to five payloads to the moon that will examine a dark spot called Oceanus Procellarum.
The IM-1 mission will include studies of radio astronomy, plume-surface interactions and space weather interactions with moon’s surface and demonstrate communication and navigation node systems and precision landing technologies.
In September, Intuitive Machines agreed to go public as part of a planned merger with New York-based blank check company Inflection Point Acquisition Corp.
