On the 15th local time, the lunar lander "Odysseus" developed by the American company "Intuition Machine" was launched from Florida.
The New York Times reported that at 1:05 on the 15th, the Odysseus lunar lander was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard the Falcon 9 rocket of the American Space Exploration Technology Corporation. Less than an hour later, Intuition Machine reported that Odysseus had separated from the rocket and successfully launched. The company subsequently stated that the spacecraft could maintain the correct direction and maintain contact with the company's mission control center.
The Odysseus lander is a hexagonal cylinder, 4 meters high and 1.57 meters wide, with 6 landing legs. It carries various scientific instruments from NASA and commercial payloads, and weighs approximately 1900 kilograms when fully loaded with propellant. NASA paid $118 million to Intuitive Machines for this mission. According to NASA's official website, the mission objectives include studying the interaction between the engine plume of the lander and the lunar surface, radio astronomy, the interaction between space weather and the lunar surface, precise landing technology, communication and navigation capabilities of the lander, and more.
According to NBC, the launch was originally scheduled for the 14th, but due to a malfunction in the rocket's methane fuel, the launch was forced to be suspended. The Odysseus mission landed in a crater near the South Pole of the Moon on the 22nd.
On January 8th, the "Peregrine Falcon" lunar lander of American private aerospace robot technology company was launched into space. The company stated in a statement the next day that due to the issue of propellant leakage, "Peregrine Falcon" has no chance of a soft landing on the moon.
Odysseus and Peregrine Falcon are both part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Service Program, which aims to develop lunar landers through private companies to help NASA transport scientific instruments and other items to the lunar surface.
Meanwhile, the Commercial Lunar Payload Service Program is also part of NASA's Artemis manned lunar landing program. Artemis is a new lunar landing program announced by the US government in 2019. On January 9th, NASA announced the latest progress adjustments to the manned lunar landing program, including postponing the manned circumlunar flight of Artemis 2 and the manned lunar landing mission of Artemis 3.