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.

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,

Intuitive Machines looks to park its Athena lunar lander on the moon’s south pole on Thursday on a mission with NASA payloads.

Three rovers and a first-of-its-kind hopping drone. After becoming the first private firm to land on the Moon last year, Intuitive Machines is aiming for its second lunar touchdown on Thursday, carrying cutting-edge payloads to support future human missions.

ET: Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander performed a successful landing on the Moon earlier today. Original article follows: A private lunar lander is gearing up for its date with destiny. Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost has been in space for 44 days,

Private space company Intuitive Machines is preparing for its second Moon landing, with the Athena lander scheduled to touch down tomorrow, March 6.

There is a robotic Moon landing happening Thursday. If this feels like déjà vu, it's because a separate lunar lander successfully touched down there just five days ago.

The Intuitive Machines Athena lander appears to have touched down on the moon's surface, but the landing didn't go smoothly.

The mission comes four days after another commercial space company, Firefly Aerospace, successfully landed its spacecraft on the moon.

The destination is Mons Mouton, one of NASA 's potential landing locations for its Artemis astronauts. Intuitive Machines ' Athena moon lander began circling the moon on March 3, just one day after a competitor, Firefly Aerospace, landed on the lunar surface without a hitch.

A drill for ice, a 4G network test, three rovers, and a hopping drone: a US company is hours away from its second lunar landing attempt on Thursday, aiming to advance technologies for future human missions.