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While SpaceX has a major head start on the way to orbit, Blue Origin has a plan to put an uncrewed spacecraft on the moon in 12-16 months.

The privately built American spacecraft’s ability to send home images and other data has been limited by its sideways landing. On another part of the moon, a Japanese spacecraft woke up.

A SpaceX rocket lifted the spacecraft, which was built by Intuitive Machines of Houston to carry cargo for NASA and other customers to the lunar surface.

The latest flight of a private company attempting to carry NASA payloads to the lunar surface was delayed to Thursday morning.

Carnegie Mellon University students built Iris, a tiny lunar rover. When the spacecraft carrying it to the moon malfunctioned, they turned their vacation house into mission control.

The Astrobotic Peregrine spacecraft launched last week for a lunar landing, but a propulsion malfunction left it unable to complete its mission.

After a flawless launch to orbit, the privately built robotic Peregrine lander is unlikely to reach the lunar surface because of a failure in its propulsion system.

The Vulcan rocket’s flight was flawless, but the privately built lunar lander it carried is not operating as expected as it heads toward the moon.

In April, people across North America will be able to gaze at a stunning total eclipse. And astronauts may get closer to that promised moon landing.