Private US spaceship takes off for the Moon

intuitive Machines, the Houston company leading mission “IM-1”, hopes to become the first non-government entity to achieve a soft touchdown on the Moon./AFP

A US spaceship attempting a lunar landing lifted off early Thursday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the second such private-led effort this year after the first ended in failure.

Intuitive Machines, the Houston company leading mission “IM-1,” hopes to become the first non-government entity to achieve a soft touchdown on the Moon, and to land the first US robot on the surface since the Apollo missions more than five decades ago.

Its hexagonal-shaped Nova-C lander named “Odysseus” blasted off on top of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket shortly after 1:00 am local time (0600 GMT).

IM-1 was supposed to blast off on Wednesday, but the launch was postponed after SpaceX discovered abnormal temperatures as it attempted to…