Pick up to 4 vehicles to compare side-by-side. State lives in the URL — share the link and the comparison loads exactly as you left it. No JavaScript required.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Intuitive Machines | Astrobotic | CNSA |
| Prime contractor | Intuitive Machines | Astrobotic | China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) |
| Status | In development | Lost | In development |
| Customer | NASA-CLPS | NASA-CLPS | CNSA |
| Launch date | 2026-H2 (NET) — Falcon 9 from LC-39A | 2024-01-08 | 2026-08 (NET) |
| Landing date | — | — | — |
| Landing site | Reiner Gamma lunar swirl, Oceanus Procellarum | Sinus Viscositatis (planned; never reached) | Shackleton crater illuminated rim, lunar south pole |
| Payload | 4 NASA payloads + rover + data-relay satellite + secondary payloads (2026-06-12) | 20 payloads from 7 nations (2024-01-08) | 21 science payloads (6 international) across orbiter, lander, rover, mini-hopper, and Queqiao-2 (2026-06-12) |
| Contract value | — | $108M (2024-01-08) | — |
| 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. Verified still pre-launch as of 2026-06-12 (second-half-2026 target); descent profile upgraded post-IM-2 with redundant laser rangefinders and 12 calibration orbits before landing. | Maiden flight of ULA's Vulcan Centaur. Helium pressurant valve failed to reseal post-actuation, over-pressurizing the oxidizer tank and rupturing it. Lander commanded into controlled re-entry; burned up over South Pacific 2024-01-18. | China's first dedicated lunar south-pole prospecting mission. Mini-flying probe hops into permanently shadowed regions to sample for water-ice volatiles. Six international payloads aboard, including an Italian laser retroreflector. Spacecraft arrived at the Wenchang spaceport for launch preparations, targeting ~August 2026. |
Pure URL state — no JavaScript, no localStorage, no cookies. The comparison renders entirely on the server from the slugs in the query string. Bookmark or share the URL and the comparison reproduces exactly.
Underlying dataset: GET /api/moon/landers. Methodology: /moon/methodology.