SpaceX to launch new Intuitive Machines moon lander, lunar satellites in 2027

A private moon lander stands on the lunar surface with relay satellites above

Intuitive Machines will use a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch its IM-4 moon lander, shown in an artist's view above, along with two lunar communications relay satellites in 2027. (Image credit: Intuitive Machines)

Intuitive Machines may have crashed its latest moon lander on the lunar surface, but that's not keeping the company down for long.

The Houston-based company has picked SpaceX to launch IM-4, its fourth moon lander, on a Falcon 9 rocket in 2027 alongside two relay satellites for a NASA lunar communications network. The news comes just weeks after the company's IM-2 moon lander crashed near the moon's south pole, and as the firm continues work on its third moon lander (yes, it's called IM-3), which is expected to launch in 2026.

“Lunar surface delivery and data relay satellites are central to our strategy to commercialize the Moon," Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus said in a statement Tuesday (April 8). "We plan to deploy the first of five lunar data relay satellites on our third mission, which will introduce our pay-by-the-minute service. The two additional satellites on our fourth mission are intended to scale that service, followed by two additional deployments to complete the constellation and fully support NASA and commercial lunar operations." The relay satellites will support NASA’s Near Space Network Services contract, Intuitive Machines wrote.

two legs of a moon lander jutting up with the earth half-lit overhead — The two legs of Intuitive Machines' private Athena moon lander jut up to the sky, with a half-lit blue Earth above, after the probe fell over during a landing attempt near the lunar south pole on March 6. 2025. (Image credit: Intuitive Machine)

Intuitive Machines' IM-4 moon lander will carry six NASA payloads under a contract with the agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. A new drill experiment built by the European Space Agency to hunt for water near the moon's south pole, will be aboard.

Intuitive Machines' first moon lander, called IM-1 Odysseus, tipped over after breaking a landing leg while attempting to land in 2024. The second lander, the IM-2 Athena, fell on its side during a lunar south pole landing attempt on March 6.

The IM-3 moon lander is under construction now.

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Tariq is the award-winning Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001. He covers human spaceflight, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. He's a recipient of the 2022 Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting and the 2025 Space Pioneer Award from the National Space Society. He is an Eagle Scout and Space Camp alum with journalism degrees from the USC and NYU. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.

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