lunar lander Archives - SpaceNews https://spacenews.com Covering the business and politics of space Fri, 07 Mar 2025 21:33:38 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://spacenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/cropped-SN_forza_star-32x32.png lunar lander Archives - SpaceNews https://spacenews.com 32 32 80681979 IM-2 lunar lander mission ends https://spacenews.com/im-2-lunar-lander-mission-ends/ https://spacenews.com/im-2-lunar-lander-mission-ends/#respond Fri, 07 Mar 2025 17:57:30 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=514100 IM-2 landing

Intuitive Machines says its second lunar landing mission is over after concluding the toppled lander cannot generate sufficient power.

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IM-2 lunar lander on its side after touchdown https://spacenews.com/im-2-lunar-lander-touches-down-status-unclear/ https://spacenews.com/im-2-lunar-lander-touches-down-status-unclear/#respond Thu, 06 Mar 2025 18:30:24 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=514040 IM-2 descent

The second lunar lander mission by Intuitive Machines reached the surface of the moon March 6, but its status after landing was not clear.

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Firefly’s Blue Ghost 1 lands on the moon https://spacenews.com/fireflys-blue-ghost-1-lands-on-the-moon/ https://spacenews.com/fireflys-blue-ghost-1-lands-on-the-moon/#respond Sun, 02 Mar 2025 08:57:03 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=513730 Blue Ghost 1 shadow

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost 1 lunar landed touched down on the surface of the moon March 2.

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Falcon 9 launches second Intuitive Machines lunar lander https://spacenews.com/falcon-9-launches-second-intuitive-machines-lunar-lander/ https://spacenews.com/falcon-9-launches-second-intuitive-machines-lunar-lander/#respond Thu, 27 Feb 2025 02:15:19 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=513617 IM-2 liftoff

Intuitive Machines’ second lunar lander is on its way to the moon after a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch Feb. 26 that also deployed three rideshare payloads.

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Second Intuitive Machines lunar lander ready for launch https://spacenews.com/second-intuitive-machines-lunar-lander-ready-for-launch/ https://spacenews.com/second-intuitive-machines-lunar-lander-ready-for-launch/#respond Wed, 26 Feb 2025 12:33:32 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=513576 IM-2

The second lunar lander mission by Intuitive Machines is set to launch, taking to the moon NASA and commercial payloads as well as several rideshare spacecraft.

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Blue Ghost 1 enters lunar orbit as Resilience flies by the moon https://spacenews.com/blue-ghost-1-enters-lunar-orbit-as-resilience-flies-by-the-moon/ https://spacenews.com/blue-ghost-1-enters-lunar-orbit-as-resilience-flies-by-the-moon/#respond Sat, 15 Feb 2025 14:18:39 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=513125 Blue Ghost 1 in lunar orbit

One commercial lunar lander has entered orbit around the moon while another, launched at the same time, made a lunar flyby to set up a later return.

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Astrolab to fly its FLIP lunar rover on Astrobotic’s Griffin-1 lander https://spacenews.com/astrolab-to-fly-its-flip-lunar-lander-on-astrobotics-griffin-1-lander/ https://spacenews.com/astrolab-to-fly-its-flip-lunar-lander-on-astrobotics-griffin-1-lander/#respond Wed, 05 Feb 2025 15:00:00 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=512528 Griffin and FLIP

Astrobotic will deliver a lunar rover built by Venturi Astrolab to the south polar region of the moon as soon as the end of this year.

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Falcon 9 launches American and Japanese commercial lunar landers https://spacenews.com/falcon-9-launches-american-and-japanese-commercial-lunar-landers/ https://spacenews.com/falcon-9-launches-american-and-japanese-commercial-lunar-landers/#respond Wed, 15 Jan 2025 09:00:36 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=511486 F9 launch Firefly ispace

A Falcon 9 successfully launched Jan. 15 two landers built by American and Japanese companies taking different paths to the surface of the moon.

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Firefly wins NASA contract for third lunar lander mission https://spacenews.com/firefly-wins-nasa-contract-for-third-lunar-lander-mission/ https://spacenews.com/firefly-wins-nasa-contract-for-third-lunar-lander-mission/#respond Thu, 19 Dec 2024 10:29:37 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=510345 Blue Ghost 3

NASA selected Firefly Aerospace for a third lunar lander mission, this one including a rover, to launch in 2028.

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Firefly, ispace lunar landers to share Falcon 9 launch https://spacenews.com/firefly-ispace-lunar-landers-to-share-falcon-9-launch/ https://spacenews.com/firefly-ispace-lunar-landers-to-share-falcon-9-launch/#respond Thu, 19 Dec 2024 00:11:51 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=510324 Blue Ghost 1

Japanese lunar lander developer ispace has confirmed that its second mission will launch on the same Falcon 9 as Firefly’s first lunar lander.

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Firefly sets January launch date for first lunar lander mission https://spacenews.com/firefly-sets-january-launch-date-for-first-lunar-lander-mission/ https://spacenews.com/firefly-sets-january-launch-date-for-first-lunar-lander-mission/#respond Mon, 25 Nov 2024 22:04:49 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=509375 Blue Ghost 1

Firefly Aerospace says it is planning a launch of its first lunar lander mission in January, meaning that none of the three commercial lander missions once slated to launch in the fourth quarter of this year will do so.

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Foust Forward | Is there a business case for the moon? https://spacenews.com/foust-forward-is-there-a-business-case-for-the-moon/ https://spacenews.com/foust-forward-is-there-a-business-case-for-the-moon/#respond Fri, 15 Nov 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=508912 Intuitive Machines is preparing IM-2, a Nova-C lunar lander dubbed Athena, for an early January mission to the moon’s south pole. Onboard the lander is NASA’s Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) experiment designed to search for water ice on the moon. Credit: Intuitive Machines

Enough commercial activity is heading to the moon in the next few months to create a traffic jam. Firefly Aerospace, ispace and Intuitive Machines are all launching commercial lunar lander […]

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Second ispace lunar lander planned for launch in December https://spacenews.com/second-ispace-lunar-lander-planned-for-launch-in-december/ https://spacenews.com/second-ispace-lunar-lander-planned-for-launch-in-december/#respond Thu, 12 Sep 2024 19:11:40 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=505807 ispace Resilience lander

Japanese company ispace expects to launch its second lunar lander mission as soon as December, making it one of three companies planning missions to the moon by the end of the year.

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NASA selects Intuitive Machines for south pole lunar lander mission https://spacenews.com/nasa-selects-intuitive-machines-for-south-pole-lunar-lander-mission/ https://spacenews.com/nasa-selects-intuitive-machines-for-south-pole-lunar-lander-mission/#respond Thu, 29 Aug 2024 22:55:15 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=505012 Nova-C lander

NASA has selected Intuitive Machines to deliver a set of payloads to the south polar region of the moon in 2027, the first award under a commercial lunar lander program in nearly a year and a half.

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Valve problem blamed for Peregrine lunar lander failure https://spacenews.com/valve-problem-blamed-for-peregrine-lunar-lander-failure/ https://spacenews.com/valve-problem-blamed-for-peregrine-lunar-lander-failure/#respond Tue, 27 Aug 2024 17:31:50 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=504900 Peregrine Earth

Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander was unable to make it to the moon because of a failure of a single valve, leading to work to redesign the valve and overall propulsion system on the company’s larger Griffin lander.

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Firefly Aerospace’s lunar lander begins pre-launch environmental tests https://spacenews.com/firefly-aerospaces-lunar-lander-begins-pre-launch-environmental-tests/ https://spacenews.com/firefly-aerospaces-lunar-lander-begins-pre-launch-environmental-tests/#respond Mon, 26 Aug 2024 13:00:04 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=504849 Blue Ghost lunar lander

Firefly Aerospace has completed its first lunar lander and shipped the spacecraft to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for testing ahead of a launch late this year.

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Intuitive Machines seeks to take over NASA’s VIPER lunar rover https://spacenews.com/intuitive-machines-seeks-to-take-over-nasas-viper-lunar-rover/ https://spacenews.com/intuitive-machines-seeks-to-take-over-nasas-viper-lunar-rover/#respond Wed, 14 Aug 2024 00:46:03 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=498619 VIPER at JSC

Intuitive Machines says it is organizing a coalition of organizations that will offer to take over a NASA lunar rover mission, launching it on one of the company’s landers.

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NASA payload to fly on first Blue Origin lunar lander mission https://spacenews.com/nasa-payload-to-fly-on-first-blue-origin-lunar-lander-mission/ https://spacenews.com/nasa-payload-to-fly-on-first-blue-origin-lunar-lander-mission/#respond Mon, 12 Aug 2024 13:35:06 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=498497 Blue Moon Mk 1

A NASA payload will hitch a ride to the moon on Blue Origin’s first lunar lander mission, scheduled to launch as soon as next March.

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NASA to soon resume awards of lunar lander missions https://spacenews.com/nasa-to-soon-resume-awards-of-lunar-lander-missions/ https://spacenews.com/nasa-to-soon-resume-awards-of-lunar-lander-missions/#respond Fri, 02 Aug 2024 11:46:49 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=498038 Griffin lander

NASA plans to soon make its first robotic lunar lander awards in more than a year as the agency and the industry grapple with uncertainty in the overall program linked to the cancellation of a rover mission.

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NASA cancels VIPER lunar rover https://spacenews.com/nasa-cancels-viper-lunar-rover/ https://spacenews.com/nasa-cancels-viper-lunar-rover/#respond Thu, 18 Jul 2024 02:37:53 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=497247 The VIPER lunar rover.

NASA has canceled a robotic lunar rover mission that would have searched for ice at the south pole of the moon, citing development delays and cost overruns.

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Intuitive Machines making upgrades to second lunar lander https://spacenews.com/intuitive-machines-making-upgrades-to-second-lunar-lander/ https://spacenews.com/intuitive-machines-making-upgrades-to-second-lunar-lander/#respond Tue, 14 May 2024 14:57:13 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=423199 IM-1 landing

Intuitive Machines says it has identified several changes it will make to its Nova-C lunar lander ahead of its second mission late this year.

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Lunar lander company ispace sees opportunities in Japan-U.S. Artemis agreement https://spacenews.com/lunar-lander-company-ispace-sees-opportunities-in-japan-u-s-artemis-agreement/ https://spacenews.com/lunar-lander-company-ispace-sees-opportunities-in-japan-u-s-artemis-agreement/#respond Sat, 11 May 2024 16:30:25 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=422458

An agreement between the United States and Japan on contributions for the Artemis lunar exploration campaign could create additional opportunities for a Japanese lunar lander developer.

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Japanese lunar lander company ispace raises $53.5 million in stock sale https://spacenews.com/japanese-lunar-lander-company-ispace-raises-53-5-million-in-stock-sale/ https://spacenews.com/japanese-lunar-lander-company-ispace-raises-53-5-million-in-stock-sale/#respond Thu, 28 Mar 2024 20:21:32 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=360656 ispace APEX 1.0 lander

Japanese lunar lander developer has raised $53.5 million in a stock sale to help fund development of upcoming missions.

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Astrobotic hires space industry veterans to help with Griffin lander https://spacenews.com/astrobotic-hires-space-industry-veterans-to-help-with-griffin-lander/ https://spacenews.com/astrobotic-hires-space-industry-veterans-to-help-with-griffin-lander/#respond Tue, 26 Mar 2024 23:08:52 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=360237 Griffin and VIPER

As Astrobotic wraps up the investigation into its first lunar lander mission, the company is bringing on experienced industry officials to help with the development of its second, larger lander.

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