Commercial US spaceship lands on moon, a historic first for private industry
- Uncrewed robot lander, dubbed Odysseus, sends faint signal after touching down near the south pole of the moon
- Intuitive Machines is the first private business to pull off a lunar landing, a feat achieved by only five countries
A Houston-based company has landed America’s first spaceship on the moon in more than 50 years, part of a new fleet of Nasa-funded, uncrewed commercial robots intended to pave the way for astronaut missions later this decade.
But while flight controllers confirmed they had received a faint signal, it was not immediately clear whether Odysseus, the lander built by Intuitive Machines, was fully functional, with announcers on a live stream suggesting it may have come down off-kilter.
The hexagon-shaped vessel touched down near the lunar south pole at 6.23 US East Coast time (7.23am Hong Kong time Friday), having slowed from 6,500km/h (4,000mph).
Images from an external “EagleCam” that was supposed to shoot out from the spacecraft during its final seconds of descent could be released.
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Commercial US spacecraft touches down on the moon in a historic first for private industry
For the time being, however, nothing is certain.
