The mission, officially known as IM-1, carries scientific cargo to help NASA learn more about the Moon’s surface before NASA’s Artemis program brings people back to the Moon in 2025. It brings a laser retroreflector array to help other spacecraft make precision landings and a radio navigation beacon to provide geolocation data to landers, rovers, and eventually astronauts.
If Odysseus does land on the lunar surface, it will be the first privately owned spacecraft to achieve that goal. The Astrobotic Peregrine lander, launched by United Launch Alliance last month, failed to reach the Moon after a propulsion system malfunction.
