That’s right, folks! We’ve had a second CLPS launch this year. As a reminder, CLPS is the Commercial Lunar Payload Services, operated by NASA and contracted out to numerous small private companies to get to the moon cheaper than ever before.

CLPS has a total of 14 providers, 2 of whom (Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic and Houston-based Intuitive Machines) have now launched this year on 2 different launch vehicles (Astrobotic launched on Vulcan-Centaur’s maiden flight, and Intuitive Machines launched aboard a Falcon 9). As of right now, there’s one more CLPS mission slated for later this year, IM-2, slated to deliver a lunar prospecting drill (PRIME-1) to the lunar south pole, also from Intuitive Machines.^{1 2}

The launch itself was picture-perfect, occurring at 1:05 AM EST on Feb. 15th.

Surprisingly, the booster was able to do a RTLS launch profile, returning to LZ-1 (marking only the second time that LZ-1 and LZ-2 have been used simultaneously by Falcon 9 — not Falcon Heavy — boosters) while still having enough performance to send the Odysseus spacecraft to a trans-lunar trajectory, a testament to the raw power of the Falcon 9 booster.

Additionally, the launch was performed by one of the fleet-leading boosters, this one being B1060-18 (yes, 18 flights!) which then nailed the landing dead-center at LZ-1.

IM-1 has a very ambitious, 16-piece set of success criteria, ranging from the first four already being completed, to four more being completed on their way to the Moon, and 8 to be completed on the way down to the lunar surface.

Like I mentioned, the Nova-C class lander has already been busy! They completed the first firing of a methalox engine in space (Yes, the lander runs on methane!) yesterday!

Intuitive Machines flight controllers successfully fired the first liquid methane and liquid oxygen engine in space, completing the IM-1 mission engine commissioning. This engine firing included a full thrust mainstage engine burn and throttle down-profile necessary to land on… pic.twitter.com/aXEIZerpj3

— Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) February 17, 2024

Additionally, this morning, Intuitive Machines released 4 images taken from Odysseus, three of which show the discarded Falcon 9 upper stage (photos 1, 3, and 4)!

Intuitive Machines successfully transmitted its first IM-1 mission images to Earth on February 16, 2024. The images were captured shortly after separation from @SpaceX's second stage on Intuitive Machines’ first journey to the Moon under @NASA's CLPS initiative. pic.twitter.com/9LccL6q5tF

— Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) February 17, 2024

Landing is currently slated for February 22nd, and we’ll be keeping you posted the whole time across the internet, as this will be a big topic in tomorrow’s (Feb. 18th) podcast along with taking over much of American space Twitter/X (whatever you want to call it). Stay tuned to social media for up-to-date information from Intuitive Machines and NASA!

Hopefully, the next time you hear from us about this mission it’s a congratulatory article to Intuitive Machines, talking about the first successful private lunar landing and the first American lunar landing in 50 years.

BONUS LAUNCH NEWS

Additionally, in other recent news that may not receive its own article, JAXA successfully launched their H-3 rocket to orbit on its second attempt, 11 months after an electrical failure during second-stage ignition. It’s a gorgeous launch from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan, and I would highly recommend checking out the video of the launch.

We also saw the launch of an ISS Resupply vehicle, Progress MS-26, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

1. Commercial Lunar Payload Services – NASA (Homepage) ↩︎
2. Commercial Lunar Payload Services – NASA (Program Overview and Timeline) ↩︎