Intuitive Machines Nova-C facts for kids

This page is about a class of lunar landers. For a series of NASA rocket designs, see Nova (rocket).

Quick facts for kids
*Nova-C* lunar lander
Specifications
Odysseus in preparation for launch

Manufacturer	Intuitive Machines
Designer	Intuitive Machines
Country of origin	United States
Operator	Intuitive Machines
Applications	Lunar payload delivery and support


Spacecraft type	Lunar lander
Bus	Nova-C bus
Design life	14 days after landing
Launch mass	1,900 kg (4,200 lb)
Payload capacity	100 kg (220 lb)
Power	200 W (0.27 hp)

Dimensions
Length	3 m (9.8 ft)
Diameter	2 m (6 ft 7 in)

Production
Status	In production
Built	2
On order	4
Launched	2
Retired	2
Maiden launch	00:44, June 18, 2025 (ET) (Purge) (15 February 2024, 06:05 UTC)


Related spacecraft
Derived from	Project Morpheus

Additional flight information
Launch vehicle	Falcon 9 Block 5
Avg. cost per spacecraft	$118 million US
Proximate missions
Last mission	IM-1
Last mission launch date	15 February 2024
Next mission	IM-2
Next mission launch date	27 February 2025 (or after)

The Intuitive Machines Nova-C, often called simply Nova-C, is a special type of lunar lander. It was designed by a company called Intuitive Machines (IM). Its main job is to carry small tools and experiments, called payloads, to the surface of the Moon. Intuitive Machines was one of three companies chosen by NASA in 2019 to help send science tools to the Moon.

The first Nova-C lander, named Odysseus (say it: ə-DISS-ee-əs), was launched on February 15, 2024. It rode into space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Odysseus reached the Moon's orbit on February 21 and landed on the lunar surface on February 22. This was the first time a Nova-C lander successfully landed on the Moon. It was also the first American spacecraft to make a soft landing on the Moon in over 50 years! This lander was also the first spacecraft to use a special fuel mix called methalox to travel between Earth and the Moon.

The second Nova-C lander, part of the IM-2 Athena mission, launched on February 27, 2025. It carried a small hopper called Gracie and other rovers and tools. A third Nova-C lander for the IM-3 mission is planned for October 2025 or later. SpaceX is providing the Falcon 9 rockets for all three of these missions.

How Nova-C Missions are Funded

In 2017, the US government decided that NASA should plan to send astronauts back to the Moon. Documents from NASA showed that the agency wanted private space companies to help with this goal.

In 2018, NASA asked nine companies, including Intuitive Machines, to propose ideas for the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. CLPS is part of NASA's Artemis program. One of the big goals of the Artemis program is to build a permanent base for humans on the Moon. Intuitive Machines was one of three companies chosen in 2019 to deliver NASA's science tools to the Moon.

In 2021, Intuitive Machines received a contract from NASA worth about $77 million to perform lunar landings. After some changes, the total value of this contract grew to $118 million by 2024.

Nova-C Design and Features

Structure

The Nova-C lander has a hexagonal (six-sided) body with six landing legs. It stands about 3.938 meters (about 13 feet) tall. When it launches, it weighs around 1908 kilograms (about 4,200 pounds). It can carry up to 100 kilograms (about 220 pounds) of tools and experiments.

Propulsion

Nova-C Class lander model on display

Intuitive Machines developed Nova-C using technology from NASA's Project Morpheus. Its main engine, called VR900, can swivel (this is called being gimbaled). It uses liquid methane and liquid oxygen as fuel. Helium gas pushes the fuel into the engine, which creates 3100 Newtons of thrust. To control its direction, the lander uses a helium reaction control system (RCS) with small thrusters. Each of these thrusters produces 4.45 Newtons of thrust.

At launch, Nova-C is filled with 845 kg of liquid oxygen, 422 kg of liquid methane, and 17 kg of helium gas. These fuels are loaded onto the lander at the launch pad at the same time as the rocket's fuel. Using liquid methane and oxygen is seen as an important step for future missions far into space. The lander stores these fuels in special tanks that keep them very cold.

Electric Power

Nova-C landers use solar panels to create electricity. Most parts of the Moon's surface get sunlight during the lunar day, which lasts about 14 Earth days.

The lander has three solar panels: one on top and two on its sides. Together, they can generate up to 200 watts of power on the Moon's surface. A 25 amp-hour battery stores power and supplies electricity to the spacecraft when the solar panels aren't making enough power.

Communications

Nova-C can send and receive data 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for the tools it carries.

Landing

The lander is designed to stay upright even if it lands on a slope of up to 10 degrees. It has special technology to land on its own and detect dangers. Once it lands, it can even take off again, fly to a new spot, and land vertically if needed.

Nova-C Missions

Intuitive Machines is carrying out the first three Nova-C missions for NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. These landers are designed to deliver small science and technology tools.

IM-1 Mission

The first Nova-C lander, IM-1, was named Odysseus. The contract for this mission was signed in 2021. It launched on February 15, 2024, on a Falcon 9 rocket. Odysseus made a "rough" but successful soft landing on February 22, 2024. It landed in the Moon's South Pole region, inside a shallow crater with a 12-degree slope. The lander ended up about 1.5 kilometers (about 1 mile) from its planned landing spot.

When Odysseus first touched the Moon, one of its landing legs broke. It bounced a bit, then settled onto the surface. It landed vertically, but then slowly tilted over to a 30-degree angle. One of its solar panels ended up angled about 18 degrees with the lunar surface. Intuitive Machines announced that Odysseus sent over 350 megabytes of science and engineering data before going into standby mode on February 29, 2024. They hoped to wake Odysseus up during the next lunar day, but on March 23, Intuitive Machines announced that it would not wake up and the mission had ended.

The Odysseus landing was the first soft landing by an American spacecraft since Apollo 17, more than 50 years ago. It was also the first soft landing by a private company. This mission also made Odysseus the first spacecraft powered by liquid methane and liquid oxygen (methalox) to fire its engines beyond Earth's orbit. It was also the first methalox spacecraft to land on another celestial body.

Even though Odysseus was resting at a 30-degree angle, it was in "good health." Its antennas were not perfectly aligned, which slightly reduced its signal. However, it still sent back both science and engineering data.

Odysseus landed in the middle of a lunar day. It was expected to work for about six Earth days (until February 27). After that, the cold lunar night would begin, and its solar panels would no longer get power. IM engineers thought they might keep communicating with Odysseus for another 10 to 20 hours after sunset, thanks to its battery. Odysseus also sent back images and science data from its tools.

IM and NASA held a joint press conference on February 28 to talk about the IM-1 mission.

IM-2 Mission

IM was chosen in October 2020 to land its second Nova-C lander near the lunar south pole. IM-2 Athena launched on February 27, 2025. In May 2024, the company said IM-2 was in its final stages of being put together. Its main tool, PRIME-1, includes a drill called TRIDENT to collect ice samples from below the Moon's surface. It also has a tool called MSolo to measure how much ice is in the samples.

The μNova (Micro-Nova) Hopper will separate from the Nova-C lander after landing. It will then work as its own small hopper lander. It can explore hard-to-reach places like deep craters on the Moon's surface.

A tool called MiniPIX TPX3 SPACE, made by a Czech company, will also be on board. This tool will check the radiation levels on the Moon. This helps scientists understand how to protect astronauts and equipment from harmful cosmic rays. This is the first Czech tool planned to be sent to the Moon.

A space technology company called Lunar Outpost will send its first lunar rover, called MAPP (Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform), on this mission. This is a partnership with Nokia Bell Labs and IM. MAPP will collect Moon samples for NASA under a contract worth just $1. This small payment shows a new way for private companies to access resources in space. Photos of the samples and other data will be sent to the Nova-C lander using radio equipment.

A special project to show 4G cellular connectivity will also be on the lander. This is a partnership with Nokia Bell Labs and NASA. Nokia's equipment will connect the Nova-C lander with Lunar Outpost's MAPP rover and IM's Micro-Nova Hopper. This 4G/LTE network will provide more data speed than older systems used for space communication. Nokia hopes that future missions will use shared networks to link bases on the Moon.

The Athena lander fell on its side when it landed on March 6, 2025. However, its instruments still worked partly, even with less data being sent back. So, the mission was considered a partial success.

IM-3 Mission

The CADRE ATLO Team presents completed rovers

NASA chose a Nova-C mission for its CLPS program, called CP-11. This mission will deliver tools to a unique area on the Moon called the lunar swirl in the Reiner Gamma region. In August 2021, Intuitive Machines chose SpaceX to launch its third lunar mission, IM-3. As of August 2024, IM-3 is expected to launch in October 2025 or later. The lander will do experiments to study the strange magnetic field found near the Reiner Gamma swirl.

The Reiner Gamma landing site was chosen for the first PRISM opportunity. The Applied Physics Laboratory's Lunar Vertex tools were selected to do a detailed scientific study of the surface and its environment. Lunar Vertex includes tools on the Nova-C lander (a magnetometer, a plasma spectrometer, and camera arrays) and on a Lunar Outpost rover (another magnetometer and a microscopic imager).

Other tools on the IM-3 mission include the Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Explorers (CADRE) rovers, ESA's MoonLIGHT Pointing Actuator (MPAc), and KASI's Lunar Space Environment Monitor (LUSEM).

IM-4 Mission

NASA announced and awarded the IM-4 mission to Intuitive Machines in September 2024. It is planned for launch in 2027.

IM-C1 Mission

Intuitive Machines has also mentioned that they are working on a "commercial" mission, called IM-C1.

Future Nova-C Missions

The Nova-C lander was designed to use methane and oxygen as fuel. These fuels are believed to be available on both the Moon and Mars. For future missions, methane and oxygen could possibly be "harvested" (collected and processed) on the Moon or Mars. This process is called In-situ resource utilization (ISRU). The Nova-C lander technology can also be made bigger to create mid-sized and large landers. These larger landers could carry even bigger tools and experiments.

Next Generation Landers

Nova-D

In an interview with NASA in October 2023, Tim Crain, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Intuitive Machines, talked about possibly developing a Nova-D lander. Early reports say that the Nova-D will use two VR-900 engines. It will be able to carry more than 500 kg (about 1,100 pounds) to the Moon's surface.

In August 2024, Intuitive Machines suggested a mission to deliver NASA's VIPER rover to the Moon using a Nova-D lander. This mission could happen in late 2027 or later.

Nova-M

Intuitive Machines is also developing another lander called the Nova-M. Early reports suggest it will use two VR-3500 engines. These engines were first made for Boeing and their HLS project. The Nova-M will be able to carry 5,000 kg (about 11,000 pounds) to the Moon's surface.