IM-2 was a robotic lunar landing mission operated by Intuitive Machines as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. The Nova-C lander, named Athena, reached the surface of the Moon on 6 March 2025. Contact was temporarily lost during the landing process; when it was re-established, data indicated the spacecraft was not in the correct orientation and one of the two radio antennas was not operating. The sideways orientation prevented the spacecraft from generating sufficient power. By 7 March, Athena's power had been fully depleted and was not expected to replenish, bringing the mission to its end. Athena was designed to investigate the presence and quantity of lunar water ice using PRIME-1, a payload of a drill and mass spectrometer. Athena also carried a drone that was equipped with a neutron spectrometer to explore the permanently shadowed region (PSR) of Marston crater near the landing site. The mission aimed to measure hydrogen in the PSR, looking for indications of solid water ice.
Background NASA uses its CLPS program to partner with commercial providers to fly experiments to the Moon. A drilling mission was originally set to launch in December 2022, for which Intuitive Machines supplied its Nova-C as the lander. This was the company's second CLPS contract. Three CLPS launches preceded IM-2:
Astrobotic Technology's Peregrine in January 2024 failed shortly after launch and did not reach the Moon. Intuitive Machines' IM-1 in February 2024 placed the Odysseus lander on the Moon, but the landing was rougher than expected, damaging one of the landing struts and causing the spacecraft to lean at a 30 degree angle; however, the company deemed the mission "successful" as the lander was able to generate scientific data for all payloads for an extended period of time. Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1 landed without problems on 2 March 2025. This IM-2 mission on 27 February 2025 was the fourth CLPS launch and was en route to the Moon when the Blue Ghost landing occurred.
Payloads
Nova-C lander
A CLPS contract was awarded to IM in October 2020 to land a second Nova-C lander near the lunar south pole. NASA designated the landing site at a ridge near the Shackleton crater, where there could be ice below the surface. After the rough landing of IM-1, several adjustments were made, including improvements to the primary laser rangefinder system, which helps determine variables such as altitude and horizontal velocity. The MiniPIX TPX3 SPACE payload, provided by the Czech company ADVACAM, was onboard the Nova-C lunar lander. This payload is designed to monitor the radiation field on the Moon and help understand how to protect crew and equipment from the negative effects of cosmic rays. This marks the first Czech payload planned to be delivered to the Moon's surface.
During the mission, IM would deploy a second vehicle, its μNova (Micro-Nova) Hopper. Micro-Nova would separate from the Nova-C lander after landing and function as a standalone hopper lander, exploring multiple difficult-to-reach areas such as deep craters on the lunar surface, by firing hydrazine rockets in controlled bursts to propel itself short distances. It would hop across craters in search of lunar ice, which could contain water critical to future crewed missions to the Moon. Water ice could be processed into rocket propellant or used to support a permanent lunar habitat in the future. Micro-Nova is also planned to take the first pictures from inside craters at the lunar south pole and would be able to carry a 1-kilogram payload for more than 25 kilometers. The hopper would explore permanently shaded regions and could "fly into a lava tube and report images back", according to IM co-founder and CTO Tim Crain.
Space technology company Lunar Outpost would send their first lunar rover, the Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP), on this mission in partnership with Nokia Bell Labs and IM. MAPP would collect lunar samples for NASA under a contract worth just $1, which is symbolic of a new incentive for the emerging commercial space industry to access resources in space. MAPP would have a mass of 5–10 kilograms, a payload mass of up to 15 kilograms, and a top speed of 10 cm/s. On its multi-day journey, the rover would autonomously map the lunar surface, capture stereo images and thermal data, and inspect samples of lunar regolith in a special bin mounted on its wheels. Photos of the samples and other data would be transmitted through radio equipment and antennas to communicate with the Nova-C lander. MAPP would snap 3D images and record videos using the RESOURCE camera, developed by MIT. It would also deploy MIT's AstroAnt, a miniature rover the size of a matchbox, to conduct contactless temperature measurements as it drives around on MAPP's roof. A collaboration in order to demonstrate 4G cellular connectivity, in partnership with Nokia Bell Labs and NASA was aboard the lander. Nokia's equipment was a Network-In-a-Box and would connect the Nova-C lander with Lunar Outpost's MAPP rover and IM's Micro-Nova Hopper. This 4G/LTE network would provide more bandwidth than the more conventional ultra-high frequency (UHF) systems used for space communication. Nokia says they hope that future missions would use shared infrastructure to interlink bases on the lunar surface.
Yaoki rover
IM-2 carried the Moon rover Yaoki. It was made by Japanese company Dymon and weighed 498 grams.
MAPP rover Athena also carried a Lunar Outpost Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP) rover.
PRIME-1 The primary payload, Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) was designed to search for water ice on the Moon at a permanently shadowed location near Shackleton Crater. It included the TRIDENT ice drill to sample ice from below the lunar surface and the MSolo mass spectrometer to measure the amount of ice in the samples. ILO-1 prime contractor Canadensys was working to deliver "a flight-ready low-cost optical payload for the ILO-1 mission, ruggedized for the Moon South Pole environment". On February 27, IM-2 released photography taken with the help of Canadensys technology. In November 2023, a mission simulation was undertaken by engineers at the Kennedy Space Center.
Instruments
The mission was to measure the volatile content of subsurface samples on the Moon. The scientific equipment consisted primarily of two components mounted to the lander:
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