Intuitive Machines Nova-C
model of lunar lander developed by Intuitive Machines
The Intuitive Machines Nova-C, or simply Nova-C, is a class of lunar landers designed by Intuitive Machines (IM) to deliver small payloads to the lunar surface. It is the first spacecraft to use methalox propulsion to navigate between the Earth and the Moon.
The first Nova-C, named Odysseus, was launched for the IM-1 mission on 15 February 2024 and landed on the lunar surface on 22 February. This was the first American spacecraft to perform a soft landing on the Moon in over 50 years. Athena, the second Nova-C lander, was launched on 27 February 2025 for the IM-2 mission. It carried the Micro-Nova Gracie and other rovers and payloads. A third Nova-C will conduct the IM-3 mission, scheduled for the second half of 2026. SpaceX is under contract to provide Falcon 9 launches for each of the three landers.
Funding
In 2017, Space Policy Directive 1 signaled the intention of returning NASA astronauts to the Moon. NASA documents obtained by The New York Times suggested the agency would involve the private spaceflight sector in the effort.
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This entry incorporates text from “Intuitive Machines Nova-C” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.