Intuitive Machines Wins $117M NASA Contract For Deliveries To Moon’s South Pole
The lunar South Pole has become a busy place this year. Intuitive Machines made its first trip to the lunar South Pole in February, as it landed its Odysseus spacecraft in the South Pole region. China joined Intuitive Machines in June, landing its Chang’e 6 spacecraft at the South Pole-Aitken Basin. Now, NASA has awarded Intuitive Machines with its fourth round of money to return to the lunar South Pole, the most of any company that is part of the CLPS contract.
“This marks the 10th CLPS delivery NASA has awarded, and the fourth planned for delivery to the South Pole of the Moon,” remarked Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington. “By supporting a robust cadence of CLPS flights to a variety of locations on the lunar surface, including two flights currently planned by companies for later this year, NASA will explore more of the Moon than ever before.”
As part of the package, Intuitive Machines will be responsible for payload integration, launch from Earth, safe landing on the Moon, and mission operations. The instruments aboard the flight will help NASA achieve multiple scientific objectives, while strengthening its understanding of the Moon’s environment. An example given by Chris Culbert, manager of the CLPS initiative at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, involves answering key questions about where volatiles, such as water, ice, or gas, are found on the lunar surface.
The instruments include: The Lunar Explorer Instrument for Space Biology Applications. Package for Resource Observation and In-Situ Prospecting for Exploration Characterization and Testing. The Laser Retroreflector Array. The Surface Exosphere Alterations by Landers. The Fluxgate Magnetometer. The Lunar Compact Infrared Imaging System.
NASA remarked future deliveries involved with CLPS will include sophisticated science experiments, and technology demonstrations as part of the Artemis campaign. Two other upcoming CLPS flights scheduled to launch later this year will deliver NASA payloads to the Moon’s nearside and South Pole, including the Intuitive Machines-2 delivery of NASA’s first on-site demonstration of searching for water and other chemical compounds below the surface of the Moon.
