With support from NASA, SpaceX launches a private company's lunar rover

Falcon 9, launched from Space

In the early hours of Thursday (15), SpaceX launched a robotic lunar module on board a Falcon 9 rocket. The launch is part of a mission carried out by Intuitive Machines in North America and is supported by NASA.

Previously, take-off was scheduled for the early hours of Wednesday (14), but it ended up being postponed.

The launch took place on Thursday at 3:05 AM Brasilia time. The rocket launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Until the last update of this report, all stages of the procedure were occurring as expected.

The lunar module is expected to reach the moon on February 22. If the landing actually occurs, the mission will mark the United States' return to a natural satellite after more than 50 years.

The mission, called IM-1, has a descent module more than four meters high. This is the first attempt at a lunar mission by Intuitive Machines.

With the aim of preparing to send astronauts to the moon in the coming years, NASA chose to hire companies to transport equipment to the natural satellite. For example, Thursday's mission contains six batches of instruments that will collect data from the lunar environment.