Falcon 9 launches with GovSat 1 as seen from Kennedy Space Center (members only)

NASA has announced that Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines and OrbitBeyond won contracts to deliver science instruments and technology demonstration payloads to the moon’s surface in the first of a series of robotic missions preceding a human return to the moon.

The launch from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station was delayed a day due to poor weather in the booster landing zone. Liftoff happened at Thursday, Sept. 5, at 11:33 a.m. EDT (1533 UTC).

NASA announced Friday that Rocket Lab will launch a 55-pound CubeSat from Wallops Island, Virginia, toward the moon in early 2021 on a demonstration mission to test lunar navigation techniques and scout a unique elliptical orbit for the planned Gateway mini-space station.