IM-2 Mission: NASA’s Lunar Mission Aims to Mine Moon Ice for the First Time

Intuitive Machines‘ second lunar landing module, Athena, arrived on Florida’s space coast on 28 January 2025. It is undergoing final pre-flight tests and checks before launch, scheduled for 26 February. The IM-2 mission aims to test the exploration of resources, mobility, and communications infrastructure around the Moon’s south pole.

Athena Ready For Launch

The current launch date for the module is being coordinated with SpaceX and is targeting a four-day launch window that will open no earlier than 26 February. The launch is planned from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

Reserve capabilities will be determined based on the lunar darkening window and other factors in unfavourable launch conditions, such as inclement weather.

This schedule supports landing on the lunar surface about a week later, on 6 or 7 March, to spend about 10 days in the sun before lunar nightfall.

The choice of landing site in the high Mons Mouton Mountain region near the lunar south pole is not coincidental. The area is one of nine potential landing sites for NASA’s future Artemis 3 manned mission.

‘Each lunar mission builds on the previous one, and Athena’s arrival in Florida demonstrates our commitment to realising the company’s vision of providing reliable lunar delivery services,’ said Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus.

IM-2 as a mission to develop lunar services

The mission, which has a second name, Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1), will be the first demonstration of resource usage on the Moon.

It will also be the first time NASA will automatically sample and analyse ice from beneath the surface. The resulting data will help scientists understand the Moon’s resources, including mapping their location, primarily at the poles.

Like the first Odysseus lunar landing module, Athena is based on Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C-class lunar lander, shaped like a tall hexagonal cylinder.

Athena Lunar Landing Module: What Is Known About The Payload?

Athena will deliver a new set of science, technology demonstrations and other commercial payloads to the lunar surface for NASA and other space companies:

TRIDENT (Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain) is a 21kg rotating impact drill designed to drill to a depth of 1m and deliver regolith and ice samples from various depths.

The Mass Spectrometer for Lunar Operations Observation (MSolo) was developed at the Kennedy Space Centre. This instrument has three primary missions: to measure the composition of gases around the lunar lander, including those emanating from the lander itself; to monitor how the composition of the local environment changes during the transition from lunar day to lunar night; and to monitor the release of lunar volatiles during missions involving drilling operations at the lunar poles.

Micro Nova Hopper developed for NASA by Intuitive Machines. It will search for hydrogen and explore a permanently shadowed area of the nearest lunar crater. Future hoppers are expected to have a range of about 25 kilometres.

The Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP) is a small lunar rover developed by Lunar Outpost. After landing, its main task is to emerge from the protective casing on Athena, uncover its antennas, and establish connections with the Nokia cellular network on the landing module. MAPP will then begin a multi-day exploration of the Moon’s south pole region, mapping the lunar surface and collecting stereo images and vital environmental data.

Lunar Surface Communications System (LSCS). Nokia’s cellular network demonstration mission could pave the way for a commercial 4G/LTE system for mission-critical communications on the Moon. Moving away from radio frequency communications will enable real-time command and control, telemetry, and even high-definition video streaming, which could be a big step towards a sustainable lunar infrastructure.

Lonestar’s “Freedom“ is a small data centre from Lonestar Data Holdings with an 8TB SSD and a single Microchip PolaFire FPGA chip SoC. Lonestar’s primary goal is to test computing system performance under extreme lunar conditions for disaster recovery.

The YAOKI rover was built by the Japanese robotics corporation Dymon Co., Ltd as one of the world’s smallest and lightest lunar rovers. After landing, YAOKI will take detailed images of the lunar surface at close range and transmit the data to Earth using Intuitive Machines data transfer services.

Companions To Moon’s Orbit

Several payloads will fly to the Moon aboard Athena but not land on its surface.

The small Lunar Trailblazer orbiter will map the distribution of the different forms of water that exist on the Moon’s surface. This will help scientists better understand where water can be found and extracted as a resource.

The Odin space probe, formerly known as Brokkr 2, was built by OrbAstro for AstroForge. After separating from Athena, it will orbit the small near-Earth asteroid 2022 OB5, which may be metallic. Odin will fly past the asteroid about 300 days after launch to conduct research and exploration for a future mining mission. “Odin’s role is to gather critical imagery of the target asteroid, preparing for our next mission, Vestri, which will aim to land on the asteroid and begin extraction,” according to AstroForge.

Mission IM-2: Lessons Learned From Past Failures

On the previous IM-1 mission, last February, Intuitive Machines’ commercial spacecraft Odysseus landed on the lunar surface for the first time in history.

However, due to its high horizontal velocity, it tipped over on touchdown, causing malfunctions in the solar panels and communications.

Based on the IM-1 experience, Intuitive Machines engineers made several improvements to the Athena design. The landing programme has been updated, allowing the vehicle to more accurately control the rate of descent and minimise the risk of tipping over.

The antenna layout has been changed to improve communication, and the navigation and course correction algorithms have been redesigned.

In the final landing phase, the module received an upgraded stabilisation system and additional sensors for surface analysis.

Where To Watch The Launch Of Mission Athena?

Pre-launch and launch media events will be held at NASA Kennedy and are open to U.S. citizens and international media.

Members of the media wishing to participate in an in-person absentee format should apply for accreditation at https://media.ksc.nasa.gov.

If a live video stream is available for this launch, it will be shown here.