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Live Countdown Coverage Begins for Intuitive Machines Second Commercial Lunar Flight 

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands vertical on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025, at Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center ahead of Intuitive Machines' IM-2 mission as part of the agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative and Artemis campaign.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands vertical on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025, at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center ahead of Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission as part of the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative and Artemis campaign.
SpaceX

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket stands ready for a 7:16 p.m. EST liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Watch now on NASA+ or the agency’s website. 

Aboard Falcon 9 is Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander named Athena, which is carrying NASA science and technology instruments to the Moon as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign. IM-2 will also carry several payloads from other non-NASA customers. 

Weather officials with Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s 45th Weather Squadron are predicting greater than 95% chance of favorable weather conditions for launch.  

Here’s a look at some of today’s countdown and ascent milestones. All times are approximate: 

COUNTDOWN  
Hr/Min/Sec          Event 
– 00:38:00             SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for propellant load 
– 00:35:00             RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) loading begins 
– 00:35:00             1st stage LOX (liquid oxygen) loading begins 
– 00:16:00             2nd stage LOX loading begins 
– 00:07:00             Falcon 9 begins pre-launch engine chill 
– 00:05:00             Dragon transitions to internal power 
– 00:01:00             Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks 
– 00:01:00             Propellant tanks pressurize for flight 
– 00:00:45             SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for launch 
– 00:00:03             Engine controller commands engine ignition sequence to start 
– 00:00:00             Falcon 9 liftoff 

LAUNCH, LANDING, AND SEPARATION 
Hr/Min/Sec         Event 
00:01:18             Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket) 
00:02:30             1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
00:02:34             1st and 2nd stages separate 
00:02:42             2nd stage engine starts  
00:03:27             Fairing deployment 
00:06:15             1st stage entry burn start 
00:06:41             1st stage entry burn ends 
00:07:55             2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1) 
00:08:01             1st stage landing burn start 
00:08:31             1st stage landing 
00:36:25             2nd stage engine starts (SES-2)
00:37:26             2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-2) 
00:43:38             Athena deploys 
00:47:28             Odin deploys 
00:47:48             Lunar Trailblazer deploys
00:48:08             CHIMERA GEO 1 deploys

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