Private Moon Missions Include Hits and Misses - March 12, 2025

0:00The American space agency, NASA, is currently using private companies to launch spacecraft to the moon. So far, the private or commercial missions have included both successes and failures. The efforts support NASA's preparations for its future moon exploration plans, beginning with its Artemis program. Artemis aims to send astronauts to the Moon for the first time since NASA's Apollo 17 mission in 1972. But in recent years, a series of private spacecraft have been collecting data on lunar conditions and possible landing areas. The spacecraft are equipped with tools and instruments to help NASA learn about the moon's environment. Here is a look at some of the private lunar missions that have launched so far.

1:21In 2019, a commercially developed lander from Israel became the first spacecraft to attempt a landing on the moon. The lander was called Bereshit, which in Hebrew means The private mission was led by the company SpaceIL in cooperation with the Israeli Space Agency. On April 11, 2019, controllers on Earth lost contact with Beresheet as it was about to attempt a landing. The Japanese company iSpace launched a lunar lander in 2023. But the lander, called Hakuto-R, crashed. The spacecraft was also carrying a rover, a vehicle to explore the moon's surface, as well as a small robot. I-Space officials later said the crash was linked to the failure of a computer sensor. The Japanese company has another lander headed to the moon.

3:04Company officials have said the landing attempt of that spacecraft, Resilience, will take place in June. I-Space says this mission will attempt to deploy a rover on the lunar surface to perform surface exploration and data collection. In February 2024, Texas-based Intuitive Machines became the first private company to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon. But its Odysseus lander fell over on its side. The spacecraft was able to operate only for a short time with limited communications. Another US company, Astrobotic Technology, Energy also tried to send a lander to the Moon in 2024, but that lander, called Peregrine, developed a fuel leak shortly after launch and did not reach the Moon.

4:15On March 2, U.S. company Firefly Aerospace successfully landed its Blue Ghost spacecraft on the Moon! The lander touched down on part of the moon's nearside called Mare Chryseum. Firefly said the spacecraft landed in the right position and was operating normally. The latest landing attempt happened on March 6th. Intuitive Machines built and operated the Athena lander, but that mission failed after The spacecraft landed sideways near the moon's south pole. Officials from Intuitive Machines said the lander missed its landing target by more than 250 meters and landed in a cold crater. The next day, the company said the spacecraft was able to send back pictures confirming its position and activating a few experiments.

5:29But shortly after, the lander stopped operating. Both Intuitive Machines and iSpace have plans for more moon missions in the coming years. The companies have contracts with NASA to provide spaceflight services and carry equipment and supplies to the moon. Such materials are called rocket payloads. The NASA program is officially called the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. It aims to turn over many of the country's major space missions to private companies to reduce costs. Several companies take part in the program. NASA says the agency aims to launch at least two private landers to the moon each year. That is because some missions will fail. The space agency's top science officer is Nikki Fox.

6:43She recently told the Associated Press, The missions open up a whole new way for us to get more science to space and to the moon. I'm Brian Lynn.