Photo: Charles Boyer
SpaceX launched twice from the Cape Wednesday night, as a Falcon 9 carrying Intuitive Machines second lunar lander lifted off at 7:16 PM from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center, and three hours and eight minutes later, the company launched another Falcon 9 on the Starlink 12-13 mission.
Both launches were successful.
IM-2 Launch
The Nova-C lunar lander “Athena”, developed by Intuitive Machines, is embarking on its second mission. This mission includes NASA’s PRIME-1 (Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1), marking the first demonstration of in-situ resource utilization on the Moon. PRIME-1 comprises two key instruments: the TRIDENT drill, designed to extract lunar ice, and the MSolo mass spectrometer, which will analyze the extracted material.
Photo courtesy Intuitive Machines
Additionally, several other spacecraft are on board:
- Lunar Trailblazer, a small-class (D) lunar orbiter under NASA’s SIMPLEx program, is tasked with detecting and mapping water on the Moon’s surface. By analyzing the form, abundance, and distribution of lunar water in relation to geological features, it aims to enhance our understanding of the Moon’s water cycle.
- Odin, a spacecraft developed by AstroForge, a company focused on asteroid mining, is set to venture into deep space. Its mission is to observe near-Earth asteroid 2022 OB5 from a distance of approximately one kilometer, providing critical data for AstroForge’s first asteroid retrieval mission. The flyby is expected to take place 11 months after launch.
- CHIMERA GEO 1, a transfer spacecraft by Epic Aerospace, is designed to transport payloads into geostationary orbit. On this mission, it carries an unidentified 16U cubesat, manifested by Exolaunch, with the objective of securing an orbital position.
This mission represents a another step in lunar exploration and resource utilization, advancing scientific and commercial ambitions. The Artemis program will be a major beneficiary of IM-2, and if Astroforge is successful on the Odin mission, a new frontier for raw materials and resources may be kicked off. As for Chimera GEO 1, a successful mission will position Epic Aerospace as a viable vendor for satellite delivery to high orbits.
See more Florida Media Now coverage: Lunar Mania: Four Space Companies Target Moon
Starlink 12-13
At 10:34 PM EST and 7.5 miles away on Space Launch Complex 40, SpaceX launched for the second time of the day when Falcon 9 launched another batch of 21 satellites for its Starlink mega-constellation.
With over 7,000 satellites in orbit and customers in over one hundred countries, Starlink has been growing rapidly as it provides broadband Internet access to early five million users.
Launch Replay
IM-2
Starlink 12-13
Next Launch
On Saturday, March 1st, SpaceX plans to launch Falcon 9 and Starlink 12-20 mission from SLC-40 down the Bimini Highway — southeastwards towards The Bahamas. This mission will be a near carbon copy of tonight’s Starlink launch.
- Organization: SpaceX
- Location: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
- Rocket: Falcon 9
- Pad: Space Launch Complex 40
- Window Opens: Saturday, 03/01/2025 8:57:00 PM EST
- Window Closes: Sunday, 03/02/2025 1:28:00 AM EST
- Destination: Low Earth Orbit
- Mission Description: Another batch of satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation – SpaceX’s project for space-based Internet communication system.
