Intuitive Machine Receives NASA's Content Launch Contract To The Moon

Illustration of the Intuitive Machine lander carrying the payload (photo: dock. NASA)

JAKARTA NASA handed over the latest Commercial Moon Loading Service (CLPS) contract to Intuitive Machine. This contract was handed over so that NASA could conduct science experiments and technology demonstrations on the Moon.

Intuitive Machine will carry six NASA payloads to land at the Moon's South Pole, the region with the coldest temperatures at night and is always shrouded in shadows. This exploration mission will be launched in 2027 if its payload is successfully developed without any problems.

NASA says that the contract is worth 116.9 million US dollars (Rp1.8 trillion). The six-load landing mission on this Moon will be part of the Artemis campaign. The hope is that NASA can conduct research and experiments that support human landing on the Moon.

"This (contract) marks NASA's 10th delivery of the CLPS and the fourth is planned to be sent to the Moon's South Pole," said Joel Kearns, Deputy Administrator of the Association for Exploration, NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

Kearns added that the new contract would strengthen NASA's visit to the lunar surface. In addition to supporting the Artemis program, the CLPS landing mission will also assist scientists in searching for and investigating water, ice, or gas on the Moon.

"By supporting strong CLPS flight rhythms to various locations on the lunar surface, including the two flights currently planned by the company for the end of this year, NASA will be exploring more months than ever before," explained Kearns.

This is not the first time NASA has awarded a contract to Intuitive Machine. Previously, the company had delivered six payloads to the Malapert A region in the South Pole earlier this year even though the vehicle launched failed to land upright.

Just like the contract that Intuitive Machine received, the company will be responsible for the integration of cargo and launch from Earth to the Moon. Intuitive Machine also targets safe landings, including good mission operations, on the Moon.

Collectively, the six charges to be carried weigh 79 kilograms. The charge that will be Intuitive Machine to take to the Moon is the Lunar Explorer Instrument for the Space Biology Application to study radiation and gravity.

In addition, there are Packages for In-Situ Resources and Search Observations for Exploration, Characterization, and Testing that will drill the Moon's surface to search for samples, Laser Retroreflector Array as a marker of the permanent location on the Moon, as well as Surface Econospheric Alteracy by Landers to investigate the chemical response of regolits.

Next, there is the Fluxgate Magnetometer to identify certain magnetic fields and the Compact Lunar Infrared Imaging System to explore the composition of the Moon's surface and map the distribution of its surface temperatures.