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| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | CNSA | Intuitive Machines | JAXA |
| Prime contractor | China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) | Intuitive Machines | Mitsubishi Electric |
| Status | In development | Landed | Landed |
| Customer | CNSA | NASA-CLPS | JAXA |
| Launch date | 2026-08 (NET) | 2025-02-27 | 2023-09-06 |
| Landing date | — | 2025-03-06 | 2024-01-19 |
| Landing site | Shackleton crater illuminated rim, lunar south pole | Mons Mouton plateau, lunar south pole (~400 m off target) | Near Shioli crater, Mare Nectaris (~10 m precision vs 100 m target) |
| Payload | 18 science payloads across orbiter, lander, rover, mini-hopper, and Queqiao-2 (2026-05-28) | 10 payloads delivered (2025-03-06) | LEV-1 (2.1 kg hopper) + LEV-2 'SORA-Q' (0.25 kg sphere) (2024-01-19) |
| Contract value | — | $62.5M (2025-02-27) | — |
| 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. | Soft-landed but tipped onto its side after altimeter failure caused the lander to strike a plateau and skid into a crater rim. Power depleted within ~24 hours; ~250 MB of data transmitted including TRIDENT drill range-of-motion demonstration. | First Japanese soft landing; made Japan the 5th nation to soft-land on the Moon. One of two main engines failed at ~50 m altitude; lander touched down on its side but still met 100-m precision goal. Survived four lunar-night cycles despite not being designed for it; declared concluded 2024-08-23. |
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Underlying dataset: GET /api/moon/landers. Methodology: /moon/methodology.