Intuitive Machines says it has become the first ever space exploration company to soft land a commercial vehicle on the moon.

The Houston, Texas-headquartered company said the move also marks the first time a US-made vehicle has touched down on the lunar surface since the Apollo programme, which ended over five decades ago.

The Odysseus moon lander touched down at 5:23pm CST on Thursday.

Carrying NASA science and technology, the space agency said the instruments aboard Odysseus will prepare NASA for future human exploration of the moon under its broader Artemis initiative.

The company's mission is the first through NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, which aims to gain new insights into the lunar environment and expand the lunar economy to support future crewed missions under NASA’s Artemis campaign.

“After troubleshooting communications, flight controllers have confirmed Odysseus is upright and starting to send data,” read an update from Intuitive Machines posted to X. “Right now, we are working to downlink the first images from the lunar surface.”

The long-term aim of NASA’s Artemis mission is to return humans to the surface of the moon.

NASA intends to launch the first crewed Artemis mission – Artemis II – around the moon in September 2025, and Artemis III in September 2026, which is planned to land the first astronauts near the lunar South Pole.

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