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The last update of this page was on February 28, 2025.
YAOKI’s Mission
Project YAOKI (PY-1)
| Date | Wednesday, February 26, 2025, 7:16 PM (EST) |
| Mission Name | IM-2 |
| Rocket | SpaceX Falcon 9 |
| Lunar Lander | Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C (Nickname: Athena, the Goddess of War) |
| Launch Site | Complex 39A Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA |
| Other Payload Providers | NASA, Lonestar Data Holdings, Columbia Sportswear, Nokia, Lunar Outpost, Puli Space, German Aerospace Cent |
| Landing Site | Mons Mouton, a mountain near the lunar south pole |
| YAOKI Mission Overview | YAOKI will conduct remote-controlled lunar surface operations from Earth and capture image data. |
Live & Streaming
About IM-2
Launch and voyage
In coordination with SpaceX, the liftoff of the IM-2 lunar mission is targeted for a four-day launch window that opens no earlier than Feb. 26. Athena, Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C class lunar lander, will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The voyage to the Moon will take approximately eight days, the exact duration determined by the relative positions of the Moon and Earth on the launch date.
- Shortly after launch, Athena will separate from the rocket’s second stage and start her solo 384,000-km journey to the Moon. These first few hours of the flight will be a key test for the structural integrity of YAOKI’s network as it will undergo extreme stresses during launch and separation.
- At several points along the journey, Athena will briefly fire her main engine to adjust her trajectory, ensuring that the mission will be precisely on course.
- As Athena approaches her destination, she will flip over and begin burning her engine once more to reduce her speed slow down. This maneuver will slip Athena into lunar orbit.
Orbit and landing
Roughly a week after launch, Athena will enter low lunar orbit, meaning she will be zipping along approximately 100 km above the Moon’s surface. From this altitude, Athena will completely orbit the Moon every two hours. At this stage, IM-2 will perform key mission tasks and begin the critical preparations for landing.
- After completing multiple revolutions around the Moon, Athena will begin executing her landing maneuvers. Athena will fire her engine again to bring the lander into an elliptical orbit that will pass approximately 10 km above IM-2’s landing site.
- At this point, Athena will be acting autonomously. The lander’s terrain cameras and range lasers will provide a constant information feed to the guidance systems. Athena’s engine will then execute its longest burn of the mission reducing its speed by 1800 meters per second so the lander can touch down softly on the lunar surface.
- Athena aims to land in the Mons Mouton region of the Moon, about 160 km away from the Moon’s south pole. The region was selected as a possible landing site for future crewed missions to the Moon as part of NASA’s Artemis campaign.
- Safely on the surface, Athena will power up its direct-to-Earth communication link, sending the first images of its descent and landing site back to Intuitive Machines’ Nova Control in Houston.
Lunar surface mission
After a series of diagnostic checks, the surface aspects of the IM-2 mission will begin. There is a long list of mission tasks for all the partners participating in IM-2 to complete, ranging from lunar mobility and resource prospecting to testing new exploration technologies and scientific instruments. One of these includes the demonstration experiment of YAOKI, developed by Dymon.
- Dymon will deploy a small, lightweight rover called YAOKI, which will capture images of the lunar surface while maneuvering quickly and efficiently within a 50-meter radius of Athena.
IM-2’s surface mission will last approximately ten days, the greater part of a single lunar day. The exact duration will be determined by the timing of Athena’s landing as well as surface conditions. While we’ve listed the major mission activities below, their exact order will be determined by mission controllers after landing.
IM-2 surface mission goals
Though Nokia’s participation in IM-2 will focus on providing connectivity to the MAPP rover and Micro Nova Hopper, the mission will support several other scientific experiments and technology tests. Here are some of the highlights.
- NASA’s PRIME-1, short for Polar Resources Ice Mining Equipment 1, will demonstrate the ability to search for signs of ice just below the Moon’s surface at Athena’s landing site. PRIME-1 has two components: a drill that will bore a meter through lunar regolith and a mass spectrometer that will measure any volatile gases that the drill brings up.
- NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center will test out an instrument called the Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA). The array is a system of reflective mirror-like retroreflectors designed to bounce laser light back to its source, other spacecraft or lunar orbiters. By measuring how long it takes for the light to get back to its source, the data from LRA can help determine the distance between them, which could help guide future spacecraft to safe landings on the lunar surface.
- Nokia will provide connectivity for the MAPP rover and Micro Nova Hopper as part of the IM-2 mission.
After roughly ten days, the IM-2 mission will conclude as the lunar day ends. Once the sun disappears over the lunar horizon, IM-2’s lander, vehicles and equipment will no longer be able to draw power from their solar panels. IM-2 will then join a very exclusive club of historic landing sites on the Moon, preserved for posterity.
Future YAOKI’ Missions
Project YAOKI 3 (PY-3) and beyond
(*) Details not yet announced.
Project YAOKI 2 (PY-2)
(*) Contract signed with Astrobotic Technology. Details TBD.