An uncrewed American lander that became the first private spaceship on the Moon has failed to “wake up,” Houston-based Intuitive Machines said on Saturday.
The company said the lander named Odysseus had not phoned home this week after its solar panels were projected to obtain enough sunlight to turn on its radio.
Odysseus touched down at an unstable angle on February 22 but was able to finish several tests and send back photos before its mission was considered to have ended a week later as it began a weeks-long lunar night.
Intuitive Machines announced on X that after a days-long wait, operators confirmed the lander’s power system would “not complete another call home.”
NASA and Intuitive Machines say they consider the mission a success and it has achieved history as the first commercial lander to land on the Moon.
It ran into multiple problems, including the tip-over landing. It was the first lunar touchdown by an American spaceship since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
NASA is planning to return astronauts to the Moon this decade. It paid Intuitive Machines about $120 million for the mission as part of an effort to delegate cargo missions to the private sector.
Intuitive Machines has two more missions planned for this year. Odysseus carried a suite of NASA instruments made to enhance understanding of the lunar south pole where the space agency plans to send astronauts under its Artemis program.
The US and international partners want to develop long-term habitats in the region, harvesting polar ice for drinking water, and to produce rocket fuel for future voyages to Mars.
