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| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Intuitive Machines | CNSA | CNSA |
| Prime contractor | Intuitive Machines | China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) | China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) |
| Status | In development | In development | Landed |
| Customer | NASA-CLPS | CNSA | CNSA |
| Launch date | 2026-Q4 (NET) | 2026-08 (NET) | 2024-05-03 |
| Landing date | — | — | 2024-06-01 |
| Landing site | Reiner Gamma lunar swirl, Oceanus Procellarum | Shackleton crater illuminated rim, lunar south pole | Apollo crater, South Pole-Aitken Basin (lunar far side) |
| Payload | 4 NASA payloads + rover + data-relay satellite + secondary payloads (2026-05-28) | 18 science payloads across orbiter, lander, rover, mini-hopper, and Queqiao-2 (2026-05-28) | 1,935.3 g of lunar far-side regolith returned to Earth (2024-06-25) |
| Contract value | — | — | — |
| Outcome | Targeted to be the first surface mission to land inside a lunar magnetic anomaly (swirl). Manifest includes three NASA-CADRE shoebox rovers, an ESA actuated laser retroreflector, and the Australian ALEPH-1 plant-growth payload. | 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-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.