NASA and Intuitive Machines have agreed on the landing site for the IM-1 mission. It will be the Malapert A crater located at the Moon’s south pole. In 2019, Intuitive Machines won its first CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) contract worth $77 million. Its purpose is to attract private companies to develop the natural satellite of our planet. Under the terms of the agreement, as part of the IM-1 mission, the company committed to deliver six cargoes delivered by NASA to the Moon (later added to these from various private customers). For this, the company will use its own NOVA-C lander.

Initially, NOVA-C’s landing site was to be Schroeter Valley, once considered the landing site of the canceled Apollo 18 expedition, but in early 2023 NASA announced that the mission was rerouted. The Aeronautics and Space Administration wanted IM-1 to sit closer to the south pole of the Moon, which was chosen as the landing site for manned missions under the Artemis program. Therefore, NASA has agreed to delay the launch of the mission to a later date.

On May 25, a message was posted on the NASA website confirming that the IM-1 landing site had been moved. Now it will be the 24-km-long Malapert A crater, located in the Moon’s south polar region. Not far away is the Malaperta massif, the so-called peak of which was considered one of the possible landing sites of the Artemis III expedition.

Changing the landing site will provide information that will allow better assessment of potential risks for future manned missions, according to NASA’s statement. In addition, engineers will be able to practically solve the issues of navigation, precision landing and communication with the apparatus located at the south pole of the Moon.

Currently, the launch of the IM-1 mission is scheduled for June. The Falcon 9 rocket will be used to send it to the Moon.