Watch: SpaceX launches third Moon mission of 2025 with Athena lander aboard Falcon 9

SpaceX efficiently launched its third Moon touchdown mission of 2025 on Wednesday (native time), carrying the Athena lander atop a Falcon 9 rocket. The mission, often known as IM-2, is led by Intuitive Machines, marking its second try at a lunar landing after final 12 months’s IM-1 mission.

The IM-2 lander is carrying a collection of scientific experiments, together with NASA payloads designed to discover lunar ice deposits close to the Moon’s south pole. Unlike its predecessor, which landed however tipped over, the corporate goals for a extra steady landing this time. If profitable, IM-2 will additional strengthen the position of non-public corporations in lunar exploration, supporting NASA’s Artemis programme, which seeks to return people to the Moon later this decade.

Mission particulars and lunar objectives

The Athena lander is taking a fast-track journey to the Moon, aiming for a touchdown on March 6. This time, Intuitive Machines hopes to keep away from the destiny of its predecessor, which landed however toppled as a result of a malfunctioning distance gauge.
Never earlier than have so many spacecraft tried Moon landings directly. Just final month, U.S. and Japanese firms launched their very own landers, and Texas-based Firefly Aerospace is ready to reach this weekend after getting a head begin. Both U.S. landers, together with IM-2, are carrying NASA experiments value tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} as half of preparations for future crewed missions.
“It’s an amazing time. There’s so much energy,” stated NASA’s science mission chief, Nicky Fox, talking forward of the launch.
IM-2 is ready to land 100 miles (160 km) from the lunar south pole, near a completely shadowed crater believed to include frozen water. The mission’s key spotlight is a drone named Grace, which is able to try a number of check hops earlier than venturing into the crater—an estimated 65 ft (20 meters) deep. Equipped with devices from Hungary and Germany, Grace will take essential measurements and seek for water ice, which could possibly be an important useful resource for future missions.

A vital second try for Intuitive Machines

This shouldn’t be Intuitive Machines’ first lunar mission. Last 12 months, the Texas-based firm made historical past as the primary U.S. entity in over 50 years to land on the Moon. However, a defective sensor brought on the IM-1 lander to descend too laborious, breaking a leg and tipping onto its facet.
Intuitive Machines has since fastened the difficulty, alongside with dozens of different enhancements. A profitable upright touchdown is important, as a sideways landing would stop Grace and a pair of rovers from deploying, and NASA’s drill from extracting lunar soil samples.
“Certainly, we will be better this time than we were last time. But you never know what could happen,” stated Trent Martin, senior vice chairman of area techniques at Intuitive Machines.
Landing on the Moon stays an unique achievement—solely Russia, the U.S., China, India, and Japan have succeeded in lunar landings. The lunar floor is scattered with wreckage from previous failed makes an attempt, underscoring the problem of the mission.

Additional payloads and future influence

NASA is paying Intuitive Machines $62 million to move its scientific tools to the Moon, however the firm has additionally bought payload area to different prospects. The Falcon 9 rocket carried further passengers, together with NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer satellite tv for pc, which is able to map water deposits on the Moon over the approaching months. Another non-public spacecraft onboard will pursue an asteroid flyby, serving as a precursor to potential asteroid mining operations.
If profitable, IM-2 might mark a big step in business lunar exploration, paving the way in which for future missions underneath NASA’s Artemis programme and past.