A US startup’s robotic spacecraft is poised to attempt a lunar landing on Sunday, the first in a series of upcoming missions by companies hoping to expand commercial activity on the moon.

SpaceX has launched another lunar lander, named Athena, with the mission to deliver groundbreaking technology to the south pole of the moon. CBS News' Mark Strassmann has more.

The IM-2 mission lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:16 p.m. ET, February 26, 2025. Athena reached her intended orbit approximately 44 minutes later and established first communication at approximately 8:17 p.m. ET.

A lunar lander made by Intuitive Machines lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Feb. 26. NASA said the launch was “lighting the way to the Moon” in preparation for future “human explorers.

Three private lunar landers are on their way to the moon right now, a surge of exploration never before seen in spaceflight history.

NASA launched Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission on Feb.26 from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The agency said Thursday the mission, launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket,

On Wednesday, February 26, 2025, the Intuitive Machines probe was launched from Cape Canaveral. Its mission is to search for water on the Moon. The lander is expected to touch down near the south pole of our natural satellite.