A private space mission poised to explore the moon will launch this week, targeting the southernmost region of the lunar surface ever visited. The Athena spacecraft, developed by Intuitive Machines, is scheduled to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 12:17 AM GMT on February 27 (7:17 PM EST on February 26). The mission will also include several other projects, such as an asteroid-mining expedition, sharing the same launch vehicle.
Intuitive Machines made history last year by becoming the first private entity to successfully land on the moon with its Odysseus spacecraft, which touched down near the moon’s south pole. Despite its operational instruments, Odysseus encountered issues during landing that limited data collection and cut its mission short.
With Athena, the company aims for a more favorable landing by the end of March. The spacecraft’s target landing site is close to Mons Mouton, the moon’s tallest mountain, situated approximately 60 kilometers from the south pole. This ambitious mission represents the most southerly approach to the moon ever attempted. If successful, Athena will conduct operations for a few weeks, equivalent to a single lunar day, until the lunar night arrives and power is lost.
Athena will carry over 10 scientific instruments and missions from various entities. Additionally, the Falcon 9 rocket will transport three other spacecraft: an asteroid-prospecting mission from a private space company, a NASA satellite designed to map lunar water and potential landing sites, and a satellite developed to assist in orbital maneuvering for other craft.
Upon landing, a NASA instrument onboard will drill into the lunar regolith to collect samples, searching for water and other chemical compounds that could support future manned missions, particularly as part of NASA’s planned Artemis moon landings set for 2027.
Several small rovers will also be deployed near the landing zone, including the lightweight Yaoki rover from Japan, which is the smallest lunar rover to date. In addition, the Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP) will explore the area, creating a 3D map and testing a 4G phone network created for lunar conditions. An additional microrobot developed by researchers will monitor temperature variations as MAPP navigates the surface.
Athena will also send a hopping robot named Grace, which will execute a series of hops up to 100 meters high and traverse approximately 200 meters until it investigates a significantly deep crater that remains in permanent shadow. This region, believed to contain usable ice deposits, has never been directly explored. Grace will spend about 45 minutes scanning the crater’s depths before launching back into the lunar environment.
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