UPDATE 3-Intuitive Machines Athena lander on the moon, but status unclear

The Houston-based space startup is one of many companies primed by NASA to return the United States to the moon, with greater private sector involvement seen as a lower cost but higher risk means of spaceflight. The six-legged Athena, carrying 11 payloads and scientific instruments, targeted its landing site some 100 miles (160 km) from the lunar south pole for a touchdown timed for 12:32 p.m. ET (1732 GMT).

Intuitive Machines said on Thursday that its robotic Athena lander has landed on the moon's surface but details of the spacecraft's status and health remained unclear, a tense moment in the company's second such attempt. The Houston-based space startup is one of many companies primed by NASA to return the United States to the moon, with greater private sector involvement seen as a lower cost but higher risk means of spaceflight.

The six-legged Athena, carrying 11 payloads and scientific instruments, targeted its landing site some 100 miles (160 km) from the lunar south pole for a touchdown timed for 12:32 p.m. ET (1732 GMT). But by that time, the lander's engine was still running, telemetry showed, as it appeared to hover over the moon. Minutes later, after commanding the lander's engine to shut down, the company confirmed that Athena "is on the surface of the moon," though its exact orientation was unclear.

Intuitive Machines ended its mission live stream and said a press conference is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET (2100 GMT). The company's shares fell more than 20% in afternoon trading. The stock had more than doubled in the past year. The mission's customers, with payloads aboard the Athena lander, waited for updates on whether the payloads can perform their tasks as planned.

"I'm still receiving some information from the lander, and we are awaiting confirmation of its orientation and health," said Will Hawkins, an executive at Lonestar Data Holdings, which has its first physical data center on the lander for its space-based data backup business. After launching atop a SpaceX rocket on February 26 from Florida, Athena flew a winding path to the moon some 238,000 miles (383,000 km) from Earth.

The first moon landing attempt by Intuitive Machines almost exactly a year ago, using its Odysseus lander, marked the most successful touchdown attempt at the time by a private company. But its hard touchdown - due to a faulty laser altimeter used to judge its distance from the ground - broke a lander leg and caused the craft to topple over, dooming many of its onboard experiments.

Five nations have made successful soft landings in the past - the then-Soviet Union, the United States, China, India and, last year, Japan. The United States and China are both aiming to put their astronauts on the moon this decade, each courting allies and giving their private sectors a key role in spacecraft development. India's first uncrewed moon landing, Chandrayaan-3 in 2023, touched down near the lunar south pole. The region is eyed by major space powers for its potential for resource extraction once astronauts return to the surface - subsurface water ice could in theory be converted into rocket fuel.

Austin-based Firefly Aerospace this month celebrated a clean touchdown of its Blue Ghost lander, marking the most successful soft landing by a private company to date. Intuitive Machines, Firefly, Astrobotic Technology and a handful of other companies are building lunar spacecraft under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, an effort to seed development of low-budget spacecraft that can scour the moon's surface before the U.S. sends astronauts there around 2027.

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