> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://jatan.space/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Moon Monday #163: Another lunar lander ready to loft, betting on Starship, speaking at ESA, and more mission updates - URL: https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-163/ - Published: 2024-02-12T12:41:46.000Z - Updated: 2024-08-23T14:29:04.000Z - Author: Jatan Mehta - Tags: Moon Monday ## Intuitive Machines set to launch for Luna ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fsubstack-post-media-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2ff6d70ee0-7c22-402f-8ba7-4ad096ae539a_1790x1080-jpeg.jpg) The Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 lunar lander being readied to be housed inside a Falcon 9 fairing. [Image: SpaceX](https://www.intuitivemachines.com/post/intuitive-machines-lunar-lander-encapsulated-and-scheduled-for-launch) SpaceX and Intuitive Machines are targeting a Falcon 9 rocket launch of the latter’s [first Moon lander](https://www.intuitivemachines.com/im-1) during a three-day window opening on [February 14](https://www.intuitivemachines.com/post/intuitive-machines-lunar-lander-encapsulated-and-scheduled-for-launch) at 5:57 UTC. The mission, named IM-1, will carry [six NASA science & technology payloads](https://science.nasa.gov/lunar-science/clps-deliveries/to2-im-clps-payloads) as part of the agency’s [CLPS program](https://jatan.space/nasa-clps-moon-missions/). These include a [radio beacon](https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/marshall/nasa-to-demonstrate-autonomous-navigation-system-on-moon) and a [LiDAR](https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/langley/nasas-laser-navigation-tech-enables-commercial-lunar-exploration) to help test advanced navigation technologies for future Moon landers. If all goes to [plan](https://www.intuitivemachines.com/%5Ffiles/ugd/7c27f7%5F51f84ee63ea744a9b7312d17fefa9606.pdf), IM-1 will attempt to land on Luna on February 22 at the near-polar site of the [Malapert A crater](https://quickmap.lroc.asu.edu/query?extent=-27.6167293,-80.9725683,9.6287046,-78.2434553&id=lroc&showTerrain=true&queryOpts=N4IgLghgRiBcIgL5A&layers=NrBsFYBoAZIRnpEBmZcAsjYIHYFcAbAyAbwF8BdC0ypOOKbRFdAJgQSfyJqt6XAMYiBCnrIsibsXLVgydAA4AnJNyEZlarIpA&proj=17) at 80°S. To follow IM-1 developments, see [NASA’s dedicated webpage](https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-sets-coverage-for-spacex-intuitive-machines-first-moon-mission) and my rundown on [how to follow everything CLPS](https://jatan.space/how-to-follow-nasa-clps-updates/). IM-1 will also carry a separate, commercial telescope called [ILO-X](https://iloa.org/astronomy-from-the-moon-planned-observations-for-ilo-x-lunar-astronomy-imagers-in-2024/?utm%5Fsource=rss&utm%5Fmedium=rss&utm%5Fcampaign=astronomy-from-the-moon-planned-observations-for-ilo-x-lunar-astronomy-imagers-in-2024) from Hawaii-based International Lunar Observatory Association. While CLPS competitor Astrobotic’s first lunar landing mission [failed](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-159/) last month, Intuitive Machines has continued to show confidence in their attempt. The public company [earlier told](https://spacenews.com/first-intuitive-machines-lunar-lander-ready-for-launch) Jeff Foust of SpaceNews that they have studied recent failed Moon landing attempts to subdue similar weaknesses in their lander, such as having dissimilar redundant inertial measurement units—the lack of which [afflicted](https://jatan.space/past-lunar-mission-mistakes-to-avoid/) the lunar descent of Israel-based SpaceIL’s Beresheet lander. But the fact remains that five out of the past nine lunar landing missions have failed. Even as lunar ambitions skyrocket worldwide, having a robotic lander touchdown by itself remains a daunting undertaking. Until IM-1 is aloft, its engineers will not really know if their testing regime was appropriate. In a feature piece for *Nature*, I explain the key tests and challenges engineers face in preparing a lander for Luna: [Read: How we test Moon landers 🌗](https://nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00352-w) *Also related:* [*Past mistakes to avoid in our grand return to the Moon this decade*](https://jatan.space/past-lunar-mission-mistakes-to-avoid/) ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fsubstack-post-media-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f8cf1f0ae-cf23-4e6f-8294-7482bd0242e8_1920x1080-jpeg.jpg) Ground stations to be used by Intuitive Machines for its Moon landing missions. Image: [Intuitive Machines](https://www.intuitivemachines.com/post/commercial-lunar-network-completed-ahead-of-im-1-moon-mission), [MSU](https://www.moreheadstate.edu/college-of-science/earth-and-space-sciences/space-science-center/laboratories-facilities/21m-space-tracking-antenna), [Goonhilly](https://www.goonhilly.org/ghy-6-32m-x/s-band), [CSIRO](https://web.archive.org/web/20220828225836/https://www.csiro.au/en/news/News-releases/2021/CSIROs-Dish-to-support-one-of-the-first-commercial-Moon-landings) As urged by NASA for CLPS, Intuitive Machines [signed multiple agreements over the years](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-93/) to get commercial Earth communications services for IM-1 to [avoid further straining](https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/08/nasas-artemis-i-mission-nearly-broke-the-deep-space-network) the precious but limited bandwidth of the agency’s Deep Space Network. Relatedly, Intuitive Machines has been progressing well towards its [second Moon landing mission](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-155/), which is also part of CLPS. ## Betting on Lunar Starship ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fsubstack-post-media-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f17d7eb78-7ce7-433a-b678-f7799f704418_1300x800-jpeg.jpg) Illustration showing a swarm of rovers working in tandem on the Moon. [Image: OffWorld](https://www.offworld.ai/post/offworld-europe-and-luxembourg-space-agency-collaborate-in-lunar-isru-exploration-program) OffWorld and Astrolab are among the handful of companies creating for the Moon with a bet on SpaceX’s Starship bringing about a paradigm shift in launch mass and volume. With support from ESA and the Luxembourg Space Agency, OffWorld aims to send a large, autonomy-capable rover on a Lunar Starship [no earlier than 2027](https://www.offworld.ai/post/offworld-europe-and-luxembourg-space-agency-collaborate-in-lunar-isru-exploration-program) which will specifically locate and process [water-ice](https://jatan.space/ultimate-guide-to-water-on-the-moon/) containing soil at the Moon’s south pole as a demonstration. OffWorld hopes to send swarms of such rovers in the future, all working in tandem to extract and process lunar resources at scale. Astrolab aims to send its first lunar rover called [FLEX](https://astrolab.space/flex) on a [2026](https://astrolab.space/news/blog/145) Starship launch, carrying [at least eight payloads](https://spacenews.com/astrolab-announces-first-customers-for-commercial-lunar-rover-mission) worth $160 million. With a large payload capacity of up to 1,000 kilograms, FLEX sports essentially the same design that Astrolab pitched to NASA last year for the agency’s request for a versatile [Lunar Terrain Vehicle](https://jatan.space/what-we-know-about-artemis-ltv/), which will be used across Artemis missions starting [Artemis V](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-128/) for more than 10 years. Relatedly, Interlune—a mostly quiet startup founded over three years ago by several former Blue Origin employees—[raised $15.6 million](https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/02/secretive-moon-startup-led-by-ex-blue-origin-leaders-raises-new-tranche-of-funding) to develop lunar resource extraction technologies. Interlune seems to particularly focus on developing an efficient [method to sort lunar material](https://seedfund.nsf.gov/awardees/history/details/?company=interlune-corporation) by particle size, which in turn would allow faster passing over of feedstock into systems [extracting oxygen on the Moon](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-153/). --- *Thank you to* [***Epsilon3***](https://www.epsilon3.io) *and* [***The Orbital Index***](https://orbitalindex.com)*for sponsoring this week’s Moon Monday. If you love my work too,* [*join them*](https://blog.jatan.space/sponsor-moon-monday) *to support this project.* --- ## More Moon - Axiom Space and NASA continue to test the core [AxEMU suit](https://www.axiomspace.com/axiom-suit) design astronauts will wear during the crewed [Artemis III](https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/artemis-iii) lunar surface mission later this decade. [Chosen competitively](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-80/), the AxEMU suits offer enhanced mobility, upgraded insulation and cooling for the harsh lunar polar environment, and more such niceties compared to the current [EMU suits](https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/extravehicular-mobility-unit-emu) used in Earth orbit. The latest series of tests concerned how well the suit is allowing astronauts to perform [tasks related to handling samples](https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/axiom-space-tests-lunar-spacesuit-at-nasas-johnson-space-center) on the Moon. - Greece [became the](https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-welcomes-greece-as-newest-artemis-accords-signatory)[](https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-welcomes-greece-as-newest-artemis-accords-signatory)[35th country](https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-welcomes-greece-as-newest-artemis-accords-signatory) and 13th ESA member to sign the US-led [Artemis Accords](https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords) for cooperative lunar exploration. - To prepare Artemis astronauts to explore the [rocky, impact-cratered terrain](https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/lunar-south-pole-atlas/maps/SPole%5F80S%5FLOLA-PSR%5Fv20190515.pdf) at the Moon’s south pole, the Lunar and Planetary Institute and NASA have [published a book](https://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/books/astronaut%5Ftraining%5Fimpactcraters) which captures lessons from investigations of cratered lunar areas by Apollo astronauts. The book can be read and downloaded for free. - [How India’s Chandrayaan 2 orbiter helped Japan’s SLIM craft nail its Moon landing](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-161/) 📌 ## Speaking at ESA ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/08/jatan-speaking-at-esa-estec-on-chandrayaan-3-web.jpg) It was an honor and a pleasure to deliver a talk on Chandrayaan 3 and India’s lunar ambitions at ESTEC, Netherlands last month at the invitation of the European Space Agency. To be honest, as an [independent space writer](https://jatan.space/about) with barely any resources, I never thought such a day would come. Many thanks to [Francesco Liucci](https://www.linkedin.com/in/francesco-liucci) and team for being kind and helpful hosts. Attached below are my talk slides. Also see [key takeaways](https://bsgn.esa.int/2024/02/07/key-takeaways-from-the-annual-conference-on-commercial-space-exploration) from this [Space for Inspiration](https://bsgn.esa.int/space-for-inspiration-2024) event as posted by ESA. [Jatan Mehta on Chandrayaan 3 and Indian lunar explorationAt “Space For Inspiration” 2024, ESA ESTECjatan-mehta-chandrayaan-3-and-indian-lunar-exploration-esa-space-for-inspiration-2024.pdf14 MBdownload-circle](https://jatan.space/content/files/2024/08/jatan-mehta-chandrayaan-3-and-indian-lunar-exploration-esa-space-for-inspiration-2024.pdf "Download")