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| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Intuitive Machines | Astrobotic | CNSA |
| Prime contractor | Intuitive Machines | Astrobotic | China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) |
| Status | Landed | In development | Landed |
| Customer | NASA-CLPS | NASA-CLPS | CNSA |
| Launch date | 2024-02-15 | 2026-07 (NET) | 2024-05-03 |
| Landing date | 2024-02-22 | — | 2024-06-01 |
| Landing site | Malapert A crater, ~300 km from lunar south pole | Lunar south pole region | Apollo crater, South Pole-Aitken Basin (lunar far side) |
| Payload | ~100 kg payload capacity (1,908 kg launch mass) (2024-02-22) | Venturi Astrolab FLIP rover + mass-simulator + secondary payloads (2026-05-28) | 1,935.3 g of lunar far-side regolith returned to Earth (2024-06-25) |
| Contract value | $118M (2024-02-15) | $199.5M (2020-06-11) | — |
| Outcome | 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. | NASA cancelled VIPER July 2024 citing cost overruns; saved ~$84M vs ~$104M completion cost. Astrobotic retained the lander demonstration task. Mission slipped from late 2025 to NET July 2026. FLIP rover (Venturi Astrolab) selected as replacement manifest. | First-ever sample return from the lunar far side and the South Pole-Aitken Basin. Used the Queqiao-2 relay satellite for far-side comms. Samples revealed unexpectedly cohesive grain behavior and excavated material from the Moon's mantle. |
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Underlying dataset: GET /api/moon/landers. Methodology: /moon/methodology.