IM-1 was a robotic Moon landing mission conducted by Intuitive Machines under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. The Nova-C lander, named Odysseus, touched down near the Malapert-A crater in the Moon's southern hemisphere on February 22, 2024. It had launched on a Falcon 9 from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A on February 15. IM-1 was the first lunar soft landing by a private company and the first US lunar soft landing since Apollo 17 in 1972. It was the second launch under CLPS, after the failure of Peregrine Mission One in January 2024. After contact with the lunar surface, the lander tipped to an unplanned 30 degree angle. All instrument payloads remained functional and the mission was deemed a success, though the data transmission rate was significantly below the planned rate. NASA provided funding support for the mission through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. carried six NASA-developed payloads and several others from commercial and educational customers. On February 29, Odysseus lost power and shut down with the start of the lunar night, and could not be reactivated at the start of the next lunar day. IM stated Nova-C is the first spacecraft to use liquid methane and liquid oxygen (methalox) propulsion beyond low-Earth orbit, and in landing on another celestial body. The mission was followed by IM-2, which unsuccessfully landed on Mons Mouton in March 2025.
Background and selection In December 2017, Space Policy Directive 1 signaled an intention to return astronauts to the Moon. Excerpts from NASA documents obtained by The New York Times suggested the agency would prioritize the private spaceflight sector. In November 2018, NASA announced the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, selecting nine companies to deploy payloads for the agency. In May 2019, NASA announced that Astrobotic Technology, Intuitive Machines, and Orbit Beyond would develop lunar landers, awarding Intuitive Machines US$77 million. Intuitive Machines was paid US$118 million to develop the Odysseus lunar lander used in the IM-1 mission. The IM-1 mission in February 2024 followed the Peregrine mission by Astrobotic Technology, which launched in January 2024. The Peregrine landing at Gruithuisen Domes was abandoned when a propellant leak was observed after launch, and the spacecraft was guided to re-enter Earth's atmosphere.
Mission hardware
Odysseus was equipped with six instruments developed by NASA, including a laser retroreflector array, a lidar navigation device, a stereo camera, a low-frequency radio receiver, the Lunar Node-1 beacon, and an instrument to monitor propellant levels. Additionally, a camera built by students at Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, a planned Moon telescope, and a Jeff Koons art project were also on board. In total the payloads comprise six NASA scientific instruments and six commercial instruments (five of the latter being scientific and one cultural). Odysseus landed at the Malapert-A crater and stayed active there for about a week, before the Sun sets at the landing site. The Odysseus lander is not designed to survive the lunar night, which lasts about two weeks. The lander has a chip with works of 200 artists, including works of Pablo Picasso, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Jeff Koons and Bram Reijnders. The lander carries the sculpture Moon Phases by Jeff Koons within its payload. This is the first sculpture installation to reach the Moon since Paul Van Hoeydonck's Fallen Astronaut sculpture was placed on the Moon by David Scott of Apollo 15 in 1971. Koons describes Moon Phases as, "125 miniature Moon sculptures, each approximately one inch in diameter." The lander also carries private disclosed and undisclosed payloads from commercial company's, educational institutions, and private citizens. One being the Lunaprise time capsule, which includes the Lunar Library compiled by the Arch Mission Foundation. The Lunar Library includes content from the English Wikipedia and the Rosetta Project. A Radio Frequency Mass Gauge (RFMG) on board estimated how much propellant was available during the IM-1 mission. This was the first long-duration test of an RFMG on a standalone spacecraft.
Mission events
Prior to launch In December 2023, Odysseus arrived at Kennedy Space Center for processing. On January 31, 2024, the Odysseus spacecraft was encapsulated in the payload fairing of its Falcon 9 Block 5 launch vehicle. On February 13, IM announced that two wet dress rehearsals loading Odysseus with propellants had been successful and they were ready for launch.
Launch
A Falcon 9 booster launched Odysseus from LC-39A in Florida at 06:05 UTC on February 15, 2024. The booster returned to LZ-1 and the expended Falcon 9 upper stage delivered the spacecraft to its translunar trajectory. Originally planned to launch on February 13, SpaceX postponed the launch after reporting a technical issue with propellant loaded onto the lander.
Early operations
After separation from the launch vehicle, the Nova Control operations center established communication with the lander and conducted initial checkouts. Images captured by the spacecraft after separation from the launch vehicle were released on February 17.
Commissioning burn The lander was scheduled to perform a main engine "commissioning burn" on February 15. Trent Martin, Intuitive Machines vice president of Space Systems, described this as a "critical step" for the mission. After reporting issues with the IM-1 star tracker and adjustment of the liquid oxygen line cooling time IM reported a successful commissioning burn on February 16. The maneuver resulted in a 21 m/s (47 mph) change in the lander's velocity.
Trajectory correction Intuitive Machines planned for up to three trajectory adjustment maneuvers during the trans-lunar phase of the mission. The first was completed on February 18, and after the second maneuver on February 20, there was no need for a third. On February 20, Intuitive Machines reported that Odysseus had completed approximately 72% of its journey to the Moon's surface.
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