The American company achieved the first successful moon landing by a private spacecraft last year. Now, it has sent a new mission to the south pole, carrying science instruments for NASA

Blue Ghost left Earth on 15 January, with the intention of exploring the Sea of Crises, and is the latest collaboration between US space agency Nasa and private companies.

Landing a spacecraft on the moon has long been a series of hits and misses. Last year, a spacecraft built by Intuitive Machines through a NASA-sponsored program put the U.S. back on the moon for the first time since the end of the Apollo program,

The space exploration firm is scheduled to launch its six-legged Nova-C moon lander, Athena, on Wednesday as part of NASA's $2.6 billion Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. Athena is scheduled to launch aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

This photo provided by NASA shows the Intuitive Machines' Athena lander approaching the surface of the moon on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (NASA via AP)

Shares of Intuitive Machines slumped to close 22% lower on Friday after the U.S. space exploration company confirmed that its second moon lander, Athena, landed on its side a day ago, similar to its first attempt last year.

Intuitive Machines' shares tumbled 34% in premarket trading on Friday after its second moon lander, Athena, appeared to have landed on its side, mirroring the company's first lunar landing attempt last year.

A Houston space company is slated to land on the Moon's surface Thursday. Why it matters: Private, unmanned Moon landings are ramping up ahead of NASA's plan to put humans on the lunar surface this decade.

The second moon landing attempt by Texas-based Intuitive Machines has ended much like the first, with its Athena lander falling sideways into a crater and shutting down after 12 hours.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Landing a spacecraft on the moon has long been a series of hits and misses. The latest casualty came this week after Intuitive Machines put another lander sideways on the moon through a NASA-sponsored program. Within 24 hours, the lander’s batteries were dead and the mission was over.

The Athena lander from Intuitive Machines could not charge its batteries after ending up on its side. It largely failed to accomplish science and technology tasks for NASA and other customers.