HOUSTON, Jan. 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Intuitive Machines, Inc. (Nasdaq: LUNR, LUNRW) (“Intuitive Machines” or the “Company”), a space exploration, infrastructure, and services company, announced that it has delivered its IM-2 mission lunar lander, named Athena, to Cape Canaveral, Florida following a historic southeast Texas snowfall.
“Each lunar mission builds on the last, and Athena’s arrival in Florida demonstrates our dedication to delivering on the Company’s vision to providing a reliable cadence of lunar delivery services,” said Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus. “This commitment to flying missions reinforces our broader efforts of developing a heavy cargo lander, establishing a lunar data relay satellite constellation, and providing sustainable infrastructure services at the Moon to enable further exploration of the solar system.”
In coordination with SpaceX, the liftoff of the IM-2 lunar mission is targeted for a four-day launch window that opens no earlier than February 26. In case of unfavorable launch conditions, such as inclement weather, backup opportunities will be determined based on the lunar blackout window and other factors.
Commanded using Intuitive Machines’ commercial Lunar Data Network, IM-2 will be the Company’s second of four manifested lunar missions as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (“CLPS”) initiative. Through the CLPS initiative and Artemis campaign, NASA is leveraging American companies to send scientific instruments and technology demonstrations to the Moon, advancing our understanding of the Moon and planetary processes, while paving the way for future crewed missions. Athena’s mission is designed to validate resource prospecting, mobility, and communications infrastructure in the Moon’s Mons Mouton region, one of nine potential Artemis III landing sites.
About Intuitive Machines
Intuitive Machines is a diversified space exploration, infrastructure, and services company focused on fundamentally disrupting lunar access economics. In 2024, Intuitive Machines successfully landed the Company’s Nova-C class lunar lander, Odysseus, on the Moon, returning the United States to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972. The Company’s products and services are offered through its four in-space business units: Lunar Access Services, Orbital Services, Lunar Data Services, and Space Products and Infrastructure. For more information, please visit intuitivemachines.com.
