Intuitive Machines’ uncrewed Odysseus landed successfully on the moon Thursday at 6:23 p.m. ET and was sending data back to Earth, the first commercial spacecraft to successfully do so.
NASA, which reported the landing, paid Intuitive Machines $118 million to land Odysseus near the Malapert crater near the lunar south pole carrying six scientific payloads, including instruments to observe space weather and set up a radio beacon to support deep space navigation. The lander is expected to operate for about 14 days, and is the first of three planned Intuitive Machines missions orchestrated by NASA in preparation for the Artemis missions.Â
The achievement is a milestone in the history of NewSpace, one of the primary goals of which was to privatize space missions and unlock the commercial potential of the lunar industry.Â
The successful landing comes just over a year after Intuitive Machines went public through a merger withÂ
a special purpose acquisition company. The company’s share price has risen sharply as the mission has progressed, standing at $2.32 at the beginning of 2024 and reaching a high of $11.68 today. At the time of publication the price had dipped to $10.28.Â
A team effortÂ
Odysseus’ solar power system is supported by AAC Clyde Space’s STARBUCK-MINI power conditioning and distribution (PCDU) unit, originally developed to support smallsats.Â
“The PCDU can be utilized and adapted for an array of different applications stretching from lunar exploratory and deep space scientific missions to military and commercial constellation applications,” Luis Gomes, AAC chief executive, told Connectivity Business News. “We didn’t set out to create a lunar-based product but our innovative approach resulted in something that could add significant value to Intuitive Machines mission.”Â
The STARBUCK-MINI is being used on several upcoming missions, originally developed for the InnoSat project developed by Bremen, Germany based space technology specialist OHB Sweden and financed by Rymdstyrelsen, the Swedish space agency.Â
Satellite missions the system has been integrated into include:Â
- Sweden’s MATS satellite, launched in 2022, which uses optical measurements to explore atmospheric waves in the mesosphere to study wind, temperature and climate;Â
- ESA’s Arctic Weather Satellite, a similar demonstration project specialized for weather measurement in the Arctic, planned for launch in June;Â
- Astroscale’s ELSA-M, an automated space debris removal vehicle launched in 2022.Â
Other technologies AAC has developed for lunar missions include:Â
- A 200,000 euro ($220,000) onboard computer system for UAE-based Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre’s Rashid lunar rover;Â
- Integration of its Sirius avionics technology for Israeli nonprofit science foundation SpaceIL’s Beresheet 2 moon missionplanned to launch in the second half of 2024, a $610,000 contract; and Â
- Collaboration in the development of ESA’s JUICE Jupiter mission’s sub-millimeter wave instrument.Â