Intuitive Machines has chosen the Falcon 9 launch vehicle to launch its third mission to the moon — IM-3. Before that, the carriers created by Elon Musk's company were chosen for the IM-1 and IM-2 missions.
The developer of commercial landing modules, Intuitive Machines , will launch its third lunar mission using the Falcon 9 carrier.
IM-3 will launch in 2024. The Nova-C lander will deliver up to 130 kilograms of payloads to the surface of the Moon. A representative of the company, Josh Marshall, noted that Intuitive Machines has not yet decided on a landing site.
Earlier, the company chose SpaceX for the IM-1 and IM-2 missions, which are scheduled to launch in the first and fourth quarters of 2022, respectively.
Intuitive Machines is a privately held American company headquartered in Houston, Texas. It was founded in 2013.
Note that SpaceX is increasingly associated with the development of an Earth satellite. Earlier it became known that the US Accounting Chamber rejected the complaints of Blue Origin and Dynetics companies about the choice of a lunar lander from SpaceX. Thus, if nothing changes, the astronauts will be delivered to the lunar surface by Starship HLS.
