A Mission with Big Dreams

NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer was set to map water across the Moon’s surface in unprecedented detail to guide future missions and deepen our understanding of lunar water cycles.

The small satellite rode into space with the Intuitive Machines IM-2 lander on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Kennedy Space Center.

Engineers established communication shortly after separation. But just one day later, contact was lost — and never restored.

Data suggested its solar arrays weren’t facing the Sun, draining the batteries. Without power, the craft drifted away in a slow spin into deep space.

Ground stations worldwide tried to detect the satellite’s radio signal for months, but it slipped too far away for recovery.

It carried:

HVM3 spectrometer (JPL) to detect water and minerals

Lunar Thermal Mapper (Oxford) to study temperatures and rock composition

Though the spacecraft was lost, its technology will live on in future missions, including NASA’s upcoming UCIS-Moon instrument for high-resolution water mapping.

As part of NASA’s SIMPLEx program, Lunar Trailblazer embraced higher risk for lower cost — a gamble that sometimes fails, but pushes space science forward.

The mission may have ended early, but the science teams and tech it inspired will continue to shape our search for lunar water.

 Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA — Press release dated August 11, 2025.