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| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | CNSA | Intuitive Machines | ispace |
| Prime contractor | China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) | Intuitive Machines | Draper |
| Status | In development | Landed | In development |
| Customer | CNSA | NASA-CLPS | NASA-CLPS |
| Launch date | 2026-08 (NET) | 2024-02-15 | 2027 (NET) |
| Landing date | — | 2024-02-22 | — |
| Landing site | Shackleton crater illuminated rim, lunar south pole | Malapert A crater, ~300 km from lunar south pole | Schrödinger Basin, lunar far side near south pole |
| Payload | 18 science payloads across orbiter, lander, rover, mini-hopper, and Queqiao-2 (2026-05-28) | ~100 kg payload capacity (1,908 kg launch mass) (2024-02-22) | 300 kg surface payload capacity (2026-05-28) |
| Contract value | — | $118M (2024-02-15) | $73M (2022-07-21) |
| Outcome | China's first dedicated lunar south-pole prospecting mission. Mini-flying probe hops into permanently shadowed regions to sample for water-ice volatiles. Italian laser retroreflector aboard the lander. | First US Moon landing since Apollo 17 and first commercial soft landing in history. Lander tipped to ~30° on touchdown after landing-leg failure but transmitted data for ~7 days before sunset. | Pivoted from Series-2 to APEX 1.0 architecture for higher payload capacity and far-side comms via two relay satellites. Far-side polar landing supports NASA's Endurance-A sample-return precursor science. |
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Underlying dataset: GET /api/moon/landers. Methodology: /moon/methodology.