Padside
Menu

SpaceXFalcon 9 Block 5Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Nova-C IM-2 & Others

Launched

February 27, 2025 · 00:16 UTC

Launch SuccessfulWeather 99% go
IM-2

Image: SpaceX

Summary

Nova-C IM-2 & Others launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 from Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA on February 27, 2025 at 00:16 UTC. It was SpaceX's 474th launch, 25th this year and humanity's 6,887th orbital launch attempt. It was the 385th Falcon 9 Block 5 flight and the 24th this year. Booster B1083 flew for the 9th time and landed at A Shortfall of Gravitas. The payload was bound for Lunar Orbit (LO). IM-2 Athena, one of 5 catalogued objects, reached a 219 × 367,508 km orbit inclined 28.5°. 5 objects from this launch are catalogued, 4 of them payloads.

Booster
  • B1083 · flight 9 · Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship at A Shortfall of Gravitas · landed161/162 landed here · 36 days after its previous flight, Starlink Group 13-1 · 700 km downrange
Mission
Lunar Exploration · Lunar Orbit (LO)for IM
Milestone
385th Falcon 9 Block 5 flight · 24th this yearSpaceX's 474th launch25th this yearhumanity's 6,887th orbital launch attempt38th orbital launch attempt this year

Webcast

Replay
Watch on YouTube

Flight preview

Simulate in Flight Club

Orbit: as tracked

28.5°Inclination
219 × 367508 kmPerigee × apogeefrom mean elements
13762.4 minPeriodfrom mean elements
357.2°Ascending node
596 d agoElement epoch2025-02-27 00:53 UTC · stale

IM-2 Athena · NORAD 63099 · 2025-038 · Space-Track · tracking 1 of 5 objects

Show the numbers for orbit elements
Object
IM-2
Object ID
2025-038A
Epoch
2025-02-27 00:53:56 UTC
Mean motion
0.10463308 rev/day
Eccentricity
0.96536
Inclination
28.52°
Ascending node
357.2438°
Arg. of perigee
216.41°
Mean anomaly
0.0142°
Element set
999
Rev at epoch
0
B*
0

Perigee, apogee and period are Kepler figures from the catalogued mean elements, not a propagated state. Published orbit: LO. Ascent drawn from padside's representative profile. Booster return drawn from padside's representative arc.

Flight timeline

26 steps, T−38 min to T+48 min 8 s
  1. T−38MGO for Prop Load
  2. T−35MStage 1 LOX Load
  3. T−35MProp Load
  4. T−16MStage 2 LOX Load
  5. T−7MEngine Chill
  6. T−1MTank Press
  7. T−1MStartup
  8. T−45SGO for Launch
  9. T−3SIgnition
  10. T−0Liftoff
  11. T+1M18SMax-Q
  12. T+2M30SMECO
  13. T+2M34SStage 2 Separation
  14. T+2M42SSES-1
  15. T+3M27SFairing Separation
  16. T+6M15SEntry Burn Startup
  17. T+6M41SEntry Burn Shutdown
  18. T+7M55SSECO-1
  19. T+8M1SStage 1 Landing Burn
  20. T+8M31SStage 1 Landing
  21. T+36M25SSES-2
  22. T+37M26SSECO-2
  23. T+43M38SPayload Separation
  24. T+47M28SPayload Separation
  25. T+47M48SPayload Separation
  26. T+48M8SPayload Separation

Catalogued objects

5 catalogued: 4 payloads, 1 rocket stage

  • IM-2 Athena · NORAD 63099 · left Earth orbit February 27, 2025
  • Chimera GEO 1 · NORAD 63100 · left Earth orbit February 27, 2025
  • Lunar Trailblazer · NORAD 63101 · left Earth orbit February 27, 2025
  • Odin · NORAD 63102 · left Earth orbit February 27, 2025

Falcon 9-444 Stage 2 · left Earth orbit February 27, 2025

Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org

About this launch

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.

Pad

Map of Launch Complex 39A

Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

200th launch from Launch Complex 39A, 6th this year · 258th from Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Local pad time at liftoff: Feb 26, 7:16 PM EST, at night

224 launches from this pad · 283 from Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

22 days after the previous launch from this pad

Updates

Nova-C IM-2 acquisition of signal confirmed.

Show 9 earlier updates
  • All spacecraft deployed.

    Cosmic_Penguin · 2/27/2025 · source

  • Liftoff.

    Cosmic_Penguin · 2/27/2025 · source

  • Official Webcast by NASA has started

    LL2 · 2/26/2025 · source

  • Tweaked T-0.

    Cosmic_Penguin · 2/26/2025 · source

  • Weather is >95% favorable for launch.

    Nosu · 2/25/2025 · source

  • GO for launch.

    Cosmic_Penguin · 2/22/2025 · source

  • Added launch time.

    Cosmic_Penguin · 2/4/2025 · source

  • Added approximate launch time.

    Cosmic_Penguin · 2/1/2025 · source

  • NET February 26th

    hitura-nobad · 1/9/2025 · source

Questions

When did Nova-C IM-2 & Others launch?

Nova-C IM-2 & Others launched on February 27, 2025 at 00:16 UTC.

Where can I watch Nova-C IM-2 & Others?

Coverage: SpaceX Nova-C IM-2 & Others; Intuitive Machines-2 Launch to the Moon (Official NASA Broadcast); SpaceX - Falcon 9 - PRIME-1 (IM-2) - LC-39A - Kennedy Space Center - February 26, 2025. Watch the replay

What rocket launched Nova-C IM-2 & Others?

Falcon 9 Block 5, flown by SpaceX. Falcon 9 Block 5 spec sheet

Where did Nova-C IM-2 & Others launch from?

Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA. Liftoff was Feb 26, 7:16 PM EST local time at the pad.

Did the booster land?

Booster B1083 flew for the 9th time and landed at A Shortfall of Gravitas.

What orbit did Nova-C IM-2 & Others reach?

IM-2 Athena, one of 5 catalogued objects, reached a 219 × 367,508 km orbit inclined 28.5°.

How many satellites did Nova-C IM-2 & Others launch?

4 payloads from this launch are catalogued (Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org).