US Spacecraft Lands on the Moon After 52 Years... 'First Private Company'

52 Years Since Apollo 17 in 1972
Part of NASA-Private Sector Collaboration Project

The United States has become the first private company to successfully land on the Moon. It marks the first time in about 52 years since Apollo 17 in December 1972 that an American spacecraft has reached the Moon.

Intuitive Machines' IM-1 Nova-C
[Photo by Yonhap News]

U.S. space company Intuitive Machines announced that its lunar lander 'Odysseus' (Nova-C) successfully landed near the lunar south pole crater 'Malapert A' at 5:24 PM Central Time on the 22nd (local time), which corresponds to 8:24 AM Korean time on the 23rd. NASA also stated through a webcast that day, "An American private spacecraft has landed on the Moon for the first time in half a century."

Stephen Altemus, CEO of the company, said during a live broadcast on the company’s homepage, "It was a challenging process, but we are finally on the Moon," adding, "Welcome to the Moon." He further noted, "The exact condition of the lander is still unclear, but it is certain that it has made contact with the Moon."

Odysseus’s mission was carried out as part of NASA’s lunar exploration project 'Artemis' and the 'Commercial Lunar Payload Services' (CLPS) program. CLPS is a program where NASA utilizes multiple private companies to conduct relatively low-cost unmanned lunar exploration. According to NASA, the total value of CLPS contracts with private companies could reach up to $2.6 billion (approximately 3.46 trillion KRW) by 2028.

Odysseus carries six NASA observation and exploration instruments. These instruments will be used to observe the lunar environment, demonstrate related technologies, and collect various data. NASA plans to use the data collected from the Moon for the 'Artemis Phase 3' mission, which aims to send astronauts to the Moon by the end of 2026.

In recent years, the global competition for lunar exploration has reignited, centered around private companies. However, attempts by U.S. company Astrobotic, Japan’s ispace, and Israel’s SpaceIL all ended in failure. So far, only five countries have successfully landed on the Moon: the United States, the former Soviet Union, China, India, and Japan.

Shares of Intuitive Machines surged about 37% in after-hours trading following the regular session on the day. The stock had closed down over 11% during regular trading due to concerns about a possible failure ahead of the lunar landing attempt, but buying momentum picked up after news of the successful landing was announced.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.