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NASA awarded Intuitive Machines a $116.9 million task order to deliver six NASA payloads to Mons Mouton, near the Moon’s South Pole. The agency currently lists the IM-4 mission for 2027. The headline figure of $117 million is a rounded version of the announced award.
What NASA is paying Intuitive Machines to do
NASA announced the award on Aug. 29, 2024, under its Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. Intuitive Machines is responsible for integrating the payloads, launching them from Earth, landing them safely on the Moon, and operating the mission. NASA’s announcement describes six agency payloads with a combined expected mass of 174 pounds (79 kilograms). NASA’s award announcement
This is a task order for one delivery, not the entire value of NASA’s CLPS contracting framework. CLPS lets commercial providers compete to supply end-to-end lunar payload delivery services; providers may also carry commercial payloads. NASA’s program overview gives the CLPS contracts a cumulative maximum value of $2.6 billion through 2028, a program-wide ceiling rather than the value of this IM-4 award. NASA’s CLPS overview
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Where and when is the IM-4 mission going?
NASA’s current public IM-4 event listing identifies Mons Mouton, near the lunar South Pole, as the destination and lists the flight for 2027. That is the agency’s current schedule, not a guarantee that the launch date cannot change. NASA’s IM-4 event listing
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The South Pole is scientifically attractive because the terrain is rugged, night-time temperatures can be extremely low, and some areas remain permanently shadowed. Those conditions make the region useful for studying the origin and distribution of water and other volatiles. The mission’s payloads investigate several aspects of the lunar environment; they do not all search for water.
What the six NASA payloads will study
The award bundles scientific investigations with technology demonstrations. NASA’s descriptions cover biology, possible volatiles, landing effects, magnetic fields, and infrared measurements of the surface. NASA’s payload descriptions
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- Lunar Explorer Instrument for Space Biology Applications: Sends yeast to the lunar surface to study how it responds to radiation and lunar gravity. NASA’s Ames Research Center manages the instrument.
- Package for Resource Observation and In-Situ Prospecting for Exploration, Characterization and Testing: A European Space Agency-led suite that plans to drill as deep as 3.3 feet (1 meter), extract samples, and analyze them in a miniaturized laboratory for possible volatiles, including water, ice, or gas.
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- Surface Exosphere Alterations by Landers: Studies chemical changes to lunar soil, or regolith, caused by a landing’s thermal, physical, and chemical effects, including contaminants introduced by the lander.
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NASA CLPS initiative manager Chris Culbert said the instruments “will help us achieve multiple scientific objectives and strengthen our understanding of the Moon’s environment.”
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NASA announced a separate Intuitive Machines award on June 30, 2026: $148.3 million for one delivery in the agency’s Moon Base Program. NASA said those missions were planned for late 2028. That later award is distinct from the $116.9 million CLPS task order for the IM-4 payload delivery. NASA’s June 2026 award announcement
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