Intuitive Machines continues its mission to build a cislunar economy with
its third mission (IM-3) to the Moon that will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9
Rocket.
“We’re offering our customers more than lunar surface payload delivery and
extreme surface mobility,” said Steve Altemus, the president and CEO of
Intuitive Machines. “Our turnkey solution for delivering, communicating, and
commanding customer payloads on and around the Moon is revolutionary. Now,
we’re proving we can do it at an annual cadence.”
The IM-3 mission includes a Nova-C class lander to land 130kg of payloads on
the lunar surface. It also has excess capacity on the launch vehicle that
accommodates 1000kg of payloads on a rideshare dispenser ring that deploys
into a lunar transfer orbit. Intuitive Machines’ “rideshare” option puts
customers in a high-energy orbit to efficiently proceed to lunar capture,
redirect to points elsewhere in high Earth orbit, or depart for destinations
in the solar system.
By expanding on Intuitive Machines’ capability developed through NASA’s
Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, we can offer an annual
launch cadence starting with IM-1 and extending beyond our first three
missions. The reliable cadence allows industry partners and customers the
lead times needed to secure funding, develop advanced technologies, and
become part of building the cislunar economy.
Tags:
Space & Astrophysics