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NASA Awards $180M to Intuitive Machines for Lunar Mission

3/25/2026

Summary

Story summary

NASA awarded Intuitive Machines a $180.4 million contract under Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) to deliver seven payloads to Lunar South Pole on IM-5.
The mission includes a lunar rover from the Australian Space Agency and uses Intuitive Machines' landing system and Space Data Network for autonomy.
Payloads include a radiation dosimeter, a laser retroreflector, and a mass spectrometer.
The project aims to advance Artemis missions with scalable infrastructure.

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Story summary

NASA awarded Intuitive Machines a $180.4 million contract under Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) to deliver seven payloads to Lunar South Pole on IM-5.
The mission includes a lunar rover from the Australian Space Agency and uses Intuitive Machines' landing system and Space Data Network for autonomy.
Payloads include a radiation dosimeter, a laser retroreflector, and a mass spectrometer.
The project aims to advance Artemis missions with scalable infrastructure.