The IM-2 is headed for an expected landing at the moon's south pole March 6 carrying a payload of exploration gear.

Intuitive Machines was set on Wednesday for the launch of its second moon lander, aiming to make the latest private U.S. moonshot one year after the space company's first lunar mission ended early with a lopsided landing.

A robotic moon lander known as Athena is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center with a mission to explore the moon’s south pole. The same rocket will also launch a moon-mapping satellite developed by NASA,