Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lunar lander has sent back images days after tipping over while landing near the Moon’s South Pole. The U.S. company was not sure precisely where Odysseus set down because of problems with the navigation system, but it now has been spotted by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Odysseus is the first U.S. spacecraft to land on the Moon since 1972 and the company expected operations to continue for at least 7 days, but said today it will lose contact tomorrow after just 5 days.

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This morning brought the good news that Japan’s lunar lander, SLIM, defied the odds yet again and has resumed tranmissions after surviving the bitter cold lunar night. The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon had a rough landing and although ground controllers were able to get data and images back, the solar-powered lander was not expected to operate again after sundown three weeks ago.

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The FAA said today it has closed its mishap investigation of the second orbital flight test of SpaceX’s Starship, OFT-2, that took place last November. SpaceX must implement a set of corrective actions before the FAA will issue a license for OFT-3, but both the company and the FAA have indicated mid-March is a likely time frame.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of February 25-March 2, 2024 and any insight we can offer about them. The Senate returns to work on Monday, the House on Wednesday.

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Intuitive Machines co-founder and CEO Steve Altemus told reporters this afternoon that initial indications yesterday that the Odysseus lander was upright on the lunar surface were wrong. Apparently it is laying on its side, slightly tilted up. IM still expects to get most of the expected data from the payloads, but they continue to work communications issues to get data and images back to Earth.

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Houston-based Intuitive Machines and NASA declared this evening that IM’s Odysseus spacecraft successfully landed on the Moon. The final hours were filled with drama, but the company says Odysseus is upright and starting to send back data, making it the first U.S. lunar lander since 1972 and the first successful commercial lunar lander.

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Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 successfully entered lunar orbit today, readying for its scheduled landing tomorrow afternoon at 5:30 pm ET. IM-1’s lander, Odysseus, will take about an hour to descend from orbit to the surface once the command is given. If all goes well, Odysseus will be the first U.S. lander on the Moon since 1972, the first successful commercial lander, and will land closer to the Moon’s South Pole than any other spacecraft.

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Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com over the last week, February 12-18, 2024, including our “What’s Happening in Space Policy” for this coming week. Click on each title to read the entire article.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of February 18-24, 2024 and any insight we can offer about them.  The House and Senate are in recess except for pro forma sessions.

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The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries succeeded in launching the new H3 rocket today almost a year after the first attempt failed. H3 will replace Japan’s existing H-IIA, providing more lift capability at lower cost.

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