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Nova-C IM-2 & Others

© SpaceX

All launches
SpaceX

Nova-C IM-2 & Others

Success

Falcon 9 Block 5
T-minus to liftoff

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HOURS

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00

MINUTES

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SECONDS

Feb 27, 00:16:30 UTC
StatusSuccess
VehicleFalcon 9 Block 5
OrbitLunar Orbit
PadLaunch Complex 39A
Loading map…

Mission

This is the second mission of Nova-C lunar lander developed and built by Intuitive Machines. This time it carries a NASA payload called PRIME-1 (Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1), which is to be the first demonstration of in-situ resource utilization on the Moon. PRIME-1 consists of two instruments: TRIDENT drill and Msolo mass spectrometer. Also on board are: * Lunar Trailblazer, a small (class D) lunar orbiter, part of NASA's SIMPLEx program, that will detect and map water on the lunar surface to determine how its form, abundance, and location relate to geology. Its mission is to aid in the understanding of lunar water and the Moon's water cycle. * Odin, a spacecraft for AstroForge, a company that plans to mine asteroid resources. Odin intends to head into deep space to observe near-Earth asteroid 2022 OB5 in preparation for their first retrieval mission. Odin will fly by the asteroid at a distance of about 1 kilometer, arriving 11 months after launch. * CHIMERA GEO 1, a transfer spacecraft by Epic Aerospace to a geostationary orbit, with the aim of covering an orbital position. For this launch, CHIMERA-GEO is carrying an unidentified 16U cubesat manifested by Exolaunch.

Launch Timeline

Countdown

T-00:38:00

GO for Prop Load

T-00:35:00

Stage 1 LOX Load

T-00:35:00

Prop Load

T-00:16:00

Stage 2 LOX Load

T-00:07:00

Engine Chill

T-00:01:00

Tank Press

T-00:01:00

Startup

T-00:00:45

GO for Launch

T-00:00:03

Ignition

In-flight

T+00:00:00

Liftoff

T+00:01:18

Max-Q

T+00:02:30

MECO

T+00:02:34

Stage 2 Separation

T+00:02:42

SES-1

T+00:03:27

Fairing Separation

T+00:06:15

Entry Burn Startup

T+00:06:41

Entry Burn Shutdown

T+00:07:55

SECO-1

T+00:08:01

Stage 1 Landing Burn

T+00:08:31

Stage 1 Landing

T+00:36:25

SES-2

T+00:37:26

SECO-2

T+00:43:38

Payload Separation

T+00:47:28

Payload Separation

T+00:47:48

Payload Separation

T+00:48:08

Payload Separation

Quick facts

VehicleFalcon 9 Block 5
OrbitLunar Orbit
PadLaunch Complex 39A
SiteKennedy Space Center, FL, USA
WindowFeb 27, 00:16:30 UTC→Feb 27, 00:16:30 UTC

Vehicle

FamilyFalcon
Height70 m
Diameter3.65 m
Stages2
ReusableYes
LEO capacity22,800 kg
Track record606/607 successful
Landings593/598
Acquiring satellite view…
Trajectory unknown
Launch Complex 39A
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
28.608, -80.604
Scrub riskLOW
Go90%
Q

Q's read

Weather & scrubLOW risk
Weather Go90%LL2 Go99%Wind0 ktGusts0 ktCloud50%Temp80°F

Limiting rule: No flight through cumulus cloud with top at or above the freezing level.

10000% cloud cover in layer above freezing (15432 ft) — approximated

Reusable Hardware

All boosters →
First Stage · Flight-provenB1083
active9th flight
Flights16
Landings16/16100%
Fastest turn23d
Recovered · ASDS · ASOG· 700 km downrange
36d 18h since last flight

Booster first flown during the Crew-8 mission.

Previous flights · 15
  1. #16Starlink Group 6-90+43d 5hJRTIDec 11, 2025
  2. #15Starlink Group 10-37+56d 4hJRTIOct 29, 2025
  3. #14Starlink Group 10-22+52d 6hASOGSep 3, 2025
  4. #13Dror-1+32d 15hJRTIJul 13, 2025
  5. #12Starlink Group 12-24+31d 6hJRTIJun 10, 2025