The Odysseus lunar lander is now probably resting against a rock, its owner claims

THE Odysseus lunar lander is likely lying on its side with its head against a rock, its owner has said.

The spacecraft made its first privately funded landing on Thursday evening.

Intuitive Machines boss Steve Altemus said: “The vehicle is stable, close to or at the intended landing site. We have communication with the lander.’

It was thought that the craft may have caught a foot on the surface and fallen awkwardly.

But Mr Altemus said the device was in the right position for the sun and the batteries were fully charged.

His team hope to soon be able to download surface images – using data received by the Goonhilly Earth Station satellite dish in Cornwall.

The mission will help advance landing technology for future missions and also help determine how landings can disrupt the lunar surface.

Mr Altemus said: “If you think back to the time of Apollo, there wasn’t one mission that went absolutely perfect, so you have to be flexible.

“You have to be innovative and persevere, and we persevered until the last moments to get this soft touchdown the way we wanted.”

NASA hopes to return astronauts to the moon’s surface in the fall of 2026, after announcing earlier this year that schedules had been pushed back by about a year because safety was a top priority.

Under the Artemis program, the Lunar Gateway will be built – a space station where astronauts can live and work.

The successful mission, IM-1, comes a month after another US spacecraft, Peregrine, failed to reach the moon’s surface following a fuel leak.

The failure of Peregrine, operated by US company Astrobotic, marked the third time a private company has failed to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface.