CLPS

GRIFFIN-1, undated photo from Astrobotic
GRIFFIN-1, undated photo from Astrobotic

Astrobotic has announced that its Griffin-1 lunar mission is now targeting July 2026, a shift that gives engineers time to complete propulsion integration and qualify the lander’s engines. Their update, published today, also outlines steady progress on systems from tanks to software as the company prepares to deliver multiple payloads to the Moon’s south-polar Nobile region.

With this news, any chance of a Falcon Heavy launch from Kennedy Space Center in 2025 is now kaput.

Status

Astrobotic said that Griffin-1’s structural build is “nearing full integration,” with pressure tanks, ramps, attitude-control thrusters and solar arrays completing fit checks. The company says each completed milestone narrows the gap to launch and the attempted precision landing at Nobile.

The stakes are significant for the Pittsburgh-based firm after Peregrine Mission One failed to reach the Moon last year due to a propellant leak and later burned up on reentry, an outcome that the company says sharpened their focus on ground testing and flight-like rehearsals ahead of Griffin-1.

Today’s schedule update marks the clearest timing guide since mid-2025, when NASA’s CLPS page last summarized the mission.

Above: Astrobotic staff examine a propulsion tank sitting in front of Griffin-1’s structure. Photo: Astrobotic
Above: Astrobotic staff examine a propulsion tank sitting in front of Griffin-1’s structure.
Photo: Astrobotic
The Nobile Crater region of the lunar south pole. Visualization: NASA

Astrobotic also reports its flight avionics are assembled and accepted for flight, and a “closed-loop” landing rehearsal is running on the ground. Using the company’s LunaRay software to generate real-time images and 3D point-clouds of the terrain, the testbed feeds data into Griffin’s Terrain Relative Navigation and Hazard Detection & Avoidance algorithms—critical for an autonomous touchdown in a place where GPS doesn’t exist.

About Griffin-1

Griffin-1 is Astrobotic’s follow-on to the failed Peregrine demo and is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) line of deliveries supporting Artemis-era science at the south pole. NASA previously confirmed that after the VIPER rover was canceled in 2024, the Griffin task order would continue as a lander and engine flight demonstration on a reconfigured manifest—an approach that today’s update effectively advances toward with engine qualification now underway.

The lander’s propulsion system is built around four composite-overwrapped propellant tanks, designed to stay lightweight while holding high-pressure loads. With the tank installs and remaining harness work finished, Griffin will move into environmental acceptance tests—vibration, thermal vacuum and other checks—to certify the vehicle for launch and lunar operations.

The payload manifest remains anchored by Venturi Astrolab’s FLIP (FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform) rover, which is deep into thermal-vac and integrated functional tests; Astrobotic’s own CubeRover; and BEACON rover (the Benchmark for Engineering and Autonomous Capabilities in Operations and Navigation — a joint lunar surface demonstration from Mission Control and Astrobotic), which has already completed end-to-end “flatsat” simulations with the lander. Secondary cargo now in house includes a Nippon Travel Agency plaque carrying messages from Japanese schoolchildren, a Nanofiche “Galactic Library to Preserve Humanity,” and a sealed MoonBox capsule with items from around the world.

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Due to its final position on the lunar surface, Intuitive Machine’s IM-1 Nova-C “Odysseus” lander will cease operations within 24 hours. That will be two days earlier than planned. Still, IM said in an update this morning that they continue receiving data from the first American lunar lander to successfully touch down on the moon’s surface in over fifty years.

In a post on the company’s website and also on the X platform, Intuitive Machines said this morning that

IM-1 approximately 30 meters above the lunar surface.
Photo: Intuitive Machines

Flight Controllers continue to communicate with Odysseus. This morning, Odysseus efficiently sent payload science data and imagery in furtherance of the Company’s mission objectives. Flight controllers are working on final determination of battery life on the lander, which may continue up to an additional 10-20 hours.

The images included here are the closest observations of any spaceflight mission to the south pole region of the Moon. Odysseus is quite the photographer, capturing this image approximately 30 meters above the lunar surface while his main engine throttled down more than 24,000 mph. Another day of exploration on the south pole region of the Moon. (27FEB2024 0835 CST)

After the lander is in the darkness of lunar night and its batteries are exhausted, the mission will end. That endpoint was originally scheduled for sometime Thursday, February 29th, but will occur early due to the angle and final resting position of Odysseus. Because it is on its side, rather than standing vertically, the amount and strength the lander receives to provide power through its solar panels is less than optimal.

As for the final results of the experiments aboard Odysseus, we will have to wait for them to be released by NASA and Intuitive Machines.

Next CLPS Missions

While IM-1 is near its end, NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program is really just getting started with planned lunar landings in support of both the Artemis program to return humans to the moon and also lunar science in general.

Firefly Aerospace

Blue Ghost M1, by Firefly Aerospace, is set to launch in the third quarter of this year aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. “Firefly is excited and ready for our Blue Ghost Mission 1,” Trina Patterson, VP of Marketing and Communications told Talk of Titusville. “We got next!”

Blue Ghost lander
image: Firefly Aerospace

The 2 x 3.5 meter spacecraft’s landing target is Mare Crisium (Latin for “Sea of Crises”) a spot that is barely visible to observers with the naked eye. It will, according to Firefly, carry “ten NASA-sponsored payloads” and is designed to last “for an entire lunar day (about 14 Earth days), and well into the freezing lunar night.”

Mare Crisium on the lunar surface.

Intuitive Machines IM-2

In the fourth quarter of this year, Intuitive Machines will try again with IM-2, its second Nova-C lander. It will land in the southern polar region of the moon, this time carrying a drill (PRIME-1) combined with a mass spectrometer, to attempt harvesting ice from below the surface among other experiments. Like IM-1 and Firefly’s Blue Ghost M1, IM-2 is planned to fly aboard a Falcon 9 rocket on its initial journey to space.

Astrobotics, the Pennsylvania company that built the Peregrine lander that failed to reach the moon earlier this year, has its VIPER lander slated to head towards the lunar South Pole region later this year as well.

2025 will also see multiple CLPS missions to the lunar surface. Intuitive Machines, Firefly and Draper Laboratories all have missions penciled in for next year.

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While Intuitive Machines soft-landing on the moon yesterday was successful, and the first by an American spacecraft in over fifty years, the news today is not all good: the company thinks that Odysseus, the company’s lunar lander is highly tilted or perhaps on its side.

In a NASA-hosted press conference late this afternoon, Intuitive Machines CEO and co-founder, Steve Altemus said that “We think we came down about 6 miles an hour [downwards towards the surface] and about 2 miles an hour [sideways] and caught a foot in the surface. And the lander has tipped [horizontally.] We believe this is the orientation of the lander on the moon.”

As he spoke, Altemus also showed a model of the lander in the orientation he believes that it is in:

Intuitive Machines Steve Altemus illustrating the orientation that mission controllers and engineers believe their lander is in on the lunar surface.
Screencapture of NASA news conference from April 23, 2024

As to yesterday’s statement that Odysseus had landed in an upright condition, Altemus said “We thought we were upright. The reason was that the tanks were reading, [in] the X direction. And the tanks were reading, gravity on the moon, that the fill levels, [that] there were still residuals in the tank.”

He went on further to say yesterday’s announcement from IM that Odysseus was upright was incorrect after new data arrived and further review. “That was stale telemetry,” Altemus said. “When we worked through the night to get other telemetry [data] down, we noticed that in the Z-direction is where we’re seeing residual tank quantities. And so that’s what tells us, with fairly certain terms, the orientation of the vehicle.”

Intuitive Machines Steve Altemus at today’s press conference.
Screencapture from NASA livestream

In short, new information and further assessment led Intuitive’s engineers to change their assessment of the lander’s final position. That assessment could change further as new data becomes available.

“My theory is just a theory,” Altemus said. He added that analysis of data will continue, and that photographs will be taken to help clarify the final result.

Science Experiments Are Actively Collecting Data

Altemus added that not all is lost, and that the IM-1 mission is continuing. “The majority of our payloads are all in view, and we are collecting science,” he said.

He illustrated his point further later in the press conference. “Fortunately, for most [experiments aboard Odysseus] of the payloads exposed to the outside, above the surface.”

On its side, of course, one panel has to be downwards close to the lunar surface. “That panel has a single payload on it, and it’s not an operational payload. It’s a static payload and we’re going to try to take a picture of that payload if we can.” Altemus continued by adding that it is believed that the panel holds the artwork payload, the Moon Phases Pace Verso / 4Space / NFMoon Sculpture created by artist Jeff Koons.

From a science standpoint, this may be the best possible outcome, allowing active experiments to continue gather data given the position Odysseus is now resting in. Odysseus’ surface operations are expected to take place through Thursday, February 29th, after which the landing site will be in lunar night and without any power from solar panels. With no power, the spacecraft cannot continue operations.

Still Working On Photos

As to photos, Altemus said that “Now that we’re on the Goonhilly dish in the United Kingdom, we’re downloading data from the buffers in the spacecraft trying to get you surface photos because I know that everyone’s hungry for those surface photos.”

Landing Still A Success, But Not An Unqualified Success

At the end of the day, given the novel territory that Intuitive Machines was operating in — this was their first foray to the lunar surface — it is fair to say that while they succeeded in landing their spacecraft safely, it did not land in an optimal position. It is also fair to say that many of the science objectives can probably still be met before the mission concludes, but like the lander, they too may not achieve all of their objectives.

At the end of the day, Intuitive Machines, NASA and scientists operating the experiments aboard Odysseus will learn a great deal. That knowledge will inform future missions and add to their chances of complete success.

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Timelapse of the flight path of Falcon 9 carrying NASA CLPS / Intuitive Machines IM-1 lunar lander to orbit on February 15, 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

A rarity is becoming commonplace lately here on the Space Coast, as SpaceX successfully launched two Falcon 9 rockets within eight hours of each other from the Eastern Range, returning both safely to the ground at the company’s Cape Canaveral landing zones.

First up was USSF-124, carrying a military payload for the US Space Force, and the second was Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 NASA CLPS mission to the moon.

USSF-124 launches aboard Falcon 9 on February 14, 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

NASA CLPS / Intuitive Machines IM-1

At 1:05 AM EST, SpaceX launched NASA CLPS payload to orbit from launch pad LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center l aboard a Falcon 9. Approximately eight and one-half minutes later, the first stage touched down safely at Landing Zone 1 at CCSFS, approximately 8.8 miles from where it had launched minutes earlier.

 After safely reaching orbit, the Intuitive Machines ‘Odysseus’ lander deployed from the Falcon 9 second stage, completing SpaceX’s part of the mission. Shortly afterward, IM confirmed Odysseus had contacted the company’s mission operations center in Houston and that the spacecraft was stable and receiving solar power.

NASA Administrator Statement

Odysseus will make a nine-day journey to the Moon, after which is will attempt to be the first successful American soft-landing on the lunar surface since Apollo 17 in 1972. In a press release on February 15, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said, “NASA scientific instruments are on their way to the Moon – a giant leap for humanity as we prepare to return to the lunar surface for the first time in more than half a century,”

He added, “These daring Moon deliveries will not only conduct new science at the Moon, but they are supporting a growing commercial space economy while showing the strength of American technology and innovation. We have so much to learn through CLPS flights that will help us shape the future of human exploration for the Artemis Generation.”

As part of Project Artemis, in May 2019, the agency awarded a task order for scientific payload delivery to Intuitive Machines to build and fly Odysseus and IM-1. The spacecraft will “Demonstrate autonomous navigation,” according to a press release from NASA.

Odysseus’s Destination

The landing site selected for this mission is Malapert A, a satellite crater to Malapert, a 69 km crater in the Moon’s south pole region. Named after Charles Malapert, a 17th-century Belgian astronomer, the area around the landing site is believed to be made of lunar highland material, similar to Apollo 16’s landing site in the in the Descartes Highlands.

The Malapert and Shackleton regions on the lunar surface as captured by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Photo: NASA

Experiments Aboard Odysseus

NASA said that “the Lunar Node-1 experiment, or LN-1, is a radio beacon designed to support precise geolocation and navigation observations for landers, surface infrastructure, and astronauts, digitally confirming their positions on the Moon relative to other craft, ground stations, or rovers on the move. These radio beacons can also be used in space to help with orbital maneuvers and guide landers to a successful touchdown on the lunar surface.”

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IM-1 Nova-C Completed Assembly
Photo: Intuitive Machines

At roughly 11:00 PM EST Wednesday evening, some two hours before the planned liftoff, the countdown was halted on SpaceX’s planned Falcon 9 launch of Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 Mission to carry their Nova-C lander ‘Odysseus’ to orbit and on its way to the Moon. Launch had been planned for 12:57 AM EST on Wednesday, February 14, 2024.

In a post on the X platform, SpaceX stated that the reason for the delay was “due to off-nominal methane temperatures prior to stepping into methane load.” Presumably that methane load was for the Nova-C lander, as Falcon 9 relies on RP-1 and liquid oxygen as its propellants and does not use methane in its operations.

SpaceX added that the next available opportunity for this launch is Thursday, February 15th at 1:05 AM EST.

Standing down from tonight’s attempt due to off-nominal methane temperatures prior to stepping into methane load. Now targeting Thursday, February 15 at 1:05 a.m. ET for Falcon 9’s launch of the @Int_Machines IM-1 mission from Florida.

SpaceX, February 13, 2024, 11:35 PM EST

NASA CLPS Second Mission

The launch will be the second for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payloads Services program. The first was Astrobotic Technology’s Peregrine lunar lander which flew on the maiden launch of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket — it was launched successfully, but experienced propulsion system issues and was not able to attempt a landing. It instead re-entered Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean and burned up after completing as many experiments as possible during its ill-fated journey.

NASA, Intuitive Machines will of course be hoping for a different outcome on this mission.

More About IM-1

Read Talk of Titusville’s IM-1 preview here: Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 Lunar Lander Set For Launch.

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IM-1, the first NASA Commercial Launch Program Services launch for Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander, will carry multiple payloads to the Moon, including Lunar Node-1, demonstrating autonomous navigation via radio beacon to support precise geolocation and navigation among lunar orbiters, landers, and surface personnel. NASA’s CLPS initiative oversees industry development of small robotic landers and rovers to support NASA’s Artemis campaign.
Photo: NASA / Intuitive Machines

Shortly after midnight this Wednesday, the next NASA CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) lunar lander is set to begin its trip to the moon’s surface aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. Launch time is scheduled for 12:57 AM EST, from Pad LC-39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

The lander was built by Intuitive Machines, a Houston-based company, and is named “Odysseus.” The mission designation is IM-1. Assuming a successful flight to orbit and post-launch vehicle checkouts, IM-1 will undertake a nine-day trip to the moon, where it will then attempt to be the first successful American soft-landing on the lunar surface since Apollo 17 in 1972.

As part of Project Artemis, in May 2019, the agency awarded a task order for scientific payload delivery to Intuitive Machines to build and fly Odysseus and IM-1. The spacecraft will “Demonstrate autonomous navigation,” according to a press release from NASA.

Malapert massif (informal name) is thought to be a remnant of the South Pole – Aitken basin rim, which formed more than 4 billion years ago.  More recently, this magnificent peak (lower left) was selected as an Artemis 3 candidate landing region. Image is 25 kilometers wide in the center, Narrow Angle Camera M1432398306LR
Photo: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

The landing site selected for this mission is Malapert A, a satellite crater to Malapert, a 69 km crater in the Moon’s south pole region. Named after Charles Malapert, a 17th-century Belgian astronomer, the area around the landing site is believed to be made of lunar highland material, similar to Apollo 16’s landing site in the in the Descartes Highlands.

Experiments Aboard

NASA said that “the Lunar Node-1 experiment, or LN-1, is a radio beacon designed to support precise geolocation and navigation observations for landers, surface infrastructure, and astronauts, digitally confirming their positions on the Moon relative to other craft, ground stations, or rovers on the move. These radio beacons also can be used in space to help with orbital maneuvers and with guiding landers to a successful touchdown on the lunar surface.”

Odysseus will then have seven days to complete experiments on the lunar surface before the lunar night sets on the south pole of the Moon, rendering the spacecraft inoperable.

Utility of Lunar Node-1

“Imagine getting verification from a lighthouse on the shore you’re approaching, rather than waiting on word from the home port you left days earlier,” said Evan Anzalone, principal investigator of LN-1 and a navigation systems engineer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “What we seek to deliver is a lunar network of lighthouses, offering sustainable, localized navigation assets that enable lunar craft and ground crews to quickly and accurately confirm their position instead of relying on Earth.”

Intuitive Machines Leadership

Intuitive Machines was founded by CEO Steve Altemus in 2013, along with CTO Tim Crain, Stephen Altemus, and Kam Ghaffarian (a cofounder of Axiom Space) and is a publicly traded company.

Altemus is a graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach and holds an M.S. in Engineering Management from the University of Central Florida. He is also a former Shuttle program employee working in operations, launch, and landing activities prior to leaving to Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston where he served as a Deputy Director of Engineering.

Ghaffarian holds a B.S. degree in Computer Science and Electronics Engineering, an M.Sc. in Information Management, and a PhD in Management Information Systems. He has worked for Lockheed Martin on various NASA contracts, Loral Space, and as an entrepreneur, Ghaffarian co-founded Axiom Space, IBX, X-energy, and Quantum Space in addition to Intuitive Machines. He is also a philanthropist promoting STEM education.

Crain holds a Bachelor’s, M.S. and Ph.D. in Aerospace engineering, and like Altemus is a NASA employee where he worked as an aerospace engineer, a strategic advisor and as the Guidance, Navigation and Control Lead for the Morpheus Vertical Test Bed, a prototype planetary lander capable of vertical takeoff and landing.

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Artist’s rendering of Astrobotics’ Peregrine Lander of the lunar surface.
Courtesy of Astrobotics

Astrobotic’s Peregrine Mission One splashed down in the South Pacific yesterday around 4:04 pm local time on January 18th, completing its trip to space after launching from Cape Canaveral on January 8, 2024.

In their final mission update, Astrobotic said

Peregrine Mission One has concluded. We look to the future and our next mission to the Moon, Griffin Mission One. All of the hard-earned experience from the past 10 days in space along with the preceding years of designing, building, and testing Peregrine will directly inform Griffin and our future missions. 

Peregrine and its payload teams have made a meaningful contribution to our lunar future, and we thank everyone who supported this mission. Courtesy of United Launch Alliance, this video was captured from their Vulcan rocket’s payload fairing.

Peregrine has flown so Griffin may land.

Astrobotic: Final Update for Peregrine Mission

Great Start

Peregrine enjoyed a perfect ride to space on board United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket making its maiden voyage on January 8th. That launch was deemed a success after what ULA CEO Tory Bruno labeled as a “Bullseye” launch that ended nearly precisely in its intended orbital altitude, inclination and speed.

ULA graphic stating Vulcan launch of Peregrine and other payloads aboard CERT-1 were placed in their intended positions in space.
Chart: United Launch Alliance

Shortly after being placed in orbit, communications with Peregrine was established by Astrobotic, and the spacecraft was sent on its course to the moon. Not long after that, Peregrine’s problems began. Those problems precluded completing the primary mission of a soft lunar landing, and instead, Astrobotics salvaged what science they could from the mission and prepared for an eventual conclusion.

Astrobotics’ Peregrine Update 21
Astrobotics’ Peregrine Update 21

The lander made it’s controlled re-entry on January 18th, concluding the first of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services missions.

Next CLPS Mission

CLPS will try again next month when Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander (IM-1) is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sometime in February.

Artist’s rendering of Intuitive Machines IM-1 lander of on the lunar surface
Courtesy: Intuitive Machines
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