Athena Lander Lands on Moon, Status Unclear

Intuitive Machines declared on Thursday that its robotic Athena lander had successfully landed on the moon, although it is still unknown how the spacecraft is doing.

LIVE NOW: Tune into the landing broadcast for IM-2, our second mission to the surface of the Moon. https://t.co/zZ6UvsQ9Ee

— Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) March 6, 2025

As one of many private companies partnered with NASA, Intuitive Machines aims to contribute to the United States’ return to the moon through lower-cost, higher-risk spaceflight ventures.

The six-legged Athena lander, equipped with 11 payloads and scientific instruments, targeted a landing site about 100 miles (160 km) from the lunar south pole, with touchdown scheduled for 12:32 p.m. ET (1732 GMT).

Telemetry indicated that Athena’s engine was still running at the scheduled time, and the lander appeared to hover over the moon’s surface.

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Minutes later, after the engine was commanded to shut down, Intuitive Machines confirmed that Athena had landed, though its exact orientation remained unknown.

Following the landing, Intuitive Machines ended its mission live stream and announced a press conference for 4 p.m. ET (2100 GMT).

The company’s shares fell more than 20% in afternoon trading, despite having more than doubled over the past year.

Customers with payloads aboard Athena awaited updates on the lander’s condition. Will Hawkins, an executive at Lonestar Data Holdings, which has its first physical data center on the lander, said, “I’m still receiving some information from the lander, and we are awaiting confirmation of its orientation and health.”

Athena launched atop a SpaceX rocket on February 26 from Florida, navigating a winding path to the moon, approximately 238,000 miles (383,000 km) from Earth.

Intuitive Machines’ first lunar landing attempt with the Odysseus lander nearly a year ago resulted in a hard touchdown, breaking a lander leg and toppling the craft due to a faulty laser altimeter.

Successful soft landings have been achieved by five nations—the then-Soviet Union, the United States, China, India, and Japan.

The U.S. and China are both aiming to send astronauts to the moon this decade, involving the private sector in spacecraft development.

India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission in 2023 successfully landed near the lunar south pole, a region of interest for potential resource extraction.

This month, Austin-based Firefly Aerospace celebrated a successful soft landing with its Blue Ghost lander.

Intuitive Machines, Firefly, Astrobotic Technology, and other companies are building lunar spacecraft under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which aims to develop cost-effective spacecraft for lunar exploration ahead of a planned U.S. astronaut mission around 2027.

Reuters