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A SpaceX rocket<\/a> blasted off Thursday carrying a US firm\u2019s spacecraft on a mission to land on the moon and end America\u2019s 50-year lull<\/a>.<\/p>\n Called Nova-C, the spacecraft built by Houston-based Intuitive Machines Inc. will attempt to touch down on the south side of the lunar surface on Feb. 22.<\/p>\n If successful, Intuitive Machines will claim a title that has eluded numerous companies and nonprofits who have shot for the moon in recent years: the first to land a privately built spacecraft on the lunar surface.<\/p>\n Up until now, only spacecraft built and operated by governments, often with large price tags, have made it to the moon\u2019s surface in one piece. The US hasn\u2019t landed a spacecraft on the moon intact since 1972.<\/p>\n The track record for companies has been less successful.\u00a0<\/p>\n Commercial spacecraft launched by groups in\u00a0Israel<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Japan<\/a>\u00a0have made it to the moon but didn\u2019t survive the landing. And in January, Intuitive Machines\u2019 US rival, Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technology Inc., launched its moon-bound spacecraft but suffered an engine failure, making a landing attempt impossible.<\/p>\n Nova-C will be carrying six payloads for NASA and five commercial ones\u00a0under a contract<\/a>\u00a0that has grown to roughly $100 million since being awarded by the US space agency in 2019, Intuitive Machines Chief Executive Officer Stephen Altemus told Bloomberg News in an interview earlier.\u00a0<\/p>\n The contract was part of a\u00a0NASA program<\/a>\u00a0designed to speed development of commercial robotic lunar landers that can carry NASA materials to the moon.<\/p>\n As it was working on Nova-C, Intuitive went public in a 2022\u00a0blank-check deal<\/a>\u00a0that put the company\u2019s value at more than $1 billion. Its current market capitalization is around $481 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.\u00a0<\/p>\n Intuitive Machines also plans to build out a constellation of satellites orbiting the moon for communications and navigation, as well as develop other lunar space technologies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nSubscribe to the Eye on AI newsletter to stay abreast of how AI is shaping the future of business. Sign up<\/a> for free.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n