How to watch SpaceX’s private Intuitive Machines lunar lander IM-1 live on February 14

This week, Intuitive Machines and NASA will send a new private lunar lander into orbit using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. You can watch the launch live online via a number of free webcasts.

IM-1, the first Nova-C lander mission from Intuitive Machines, will fly on a Falcon 9 rocket to the moon on February 14 with payloads for NASA and other clients. The launch is slated to occur at NASA’s Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:57 a.m. EST (0557 GMT). According to NASA and Intuitive Machines, IM-1 is scheduled to land on the moon on February 22 if all goes as planned.

NASA, SpaceX, and Intuitive Machines will all be providing livestreams of the launch, and you can also listen in on NASA’s two preflight press conferences prior to liftoff. Here’s a summary of when and how to watch SpaceX’s Intuitive Machines IM-1 launch live online.

NASA will conduct an audio-only teleconference on Monday, February 12th, to discuss the science experiments that are being carried out on Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 mission. It will start at 1600 GMT/11 a.m. EST and be shown live on NASA TV. Use the hashtag #AskNASA on social media to pose inquiries.

IM-1 is carrying NASA experiments “focusing on plume-surface interactions, space weather/lunar surface interactions, radio astronomy, precision landing technologies, and a communication and navigation node for future autonomous navigation technologies,” according to a NASA description of the program. It is a part of Commercial Lunar Payload Services.

The speakers scheduled to speak at the news conference are listed below.

• Susan Lederer, NASA’s Johnson Space Center CLPS project scientist;
• Principal Investigator Farzin Amzajerdian of NASA’s Langley Research Center, Navigation Doppler Lidar;
• Tamara Statham, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center’s co-principal investigator for Lunar Node-1;
• Daniel Cremons, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s deputy principle investigator for the Laser Retro-Reflector Array;
• Principal Investigator Nat Gopalswamy, NASA Goddard, Radio Observations of the Lunar Surface Photoelectron Sheath;
• Michelle Munk is the chief investigator of NASA Langley’s Stereo Camera for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies.
• Lauren Ameen is the NASA Glenn Research Center’s deputy project manager for the Radio Frequency Mass Gauge.

A prelaunch news teleconference is scheduled for Tuesday, February 13, at NASA, SpaceX, and Intuitive Machines to discuss the launch readiness of the IM-1 lunar lander and its Falcon 9 rocket.

The press conference is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. EST (1830 GMT) and will be broadcast live on NASA TV. Please note that this is an audio-only briefing; visuals will not be provided.

Who you may expect to hear from during the briefing is listed below.

• Joel Kearns, NASA Headquarters’ deputy assistant administrator for exploration in the Science Mission Directorate;
• Program scientist Debra Needham works at NASA Headquarters’ Exploration Science Strategy and Integration Office;
• Trent Martin, vice president of Intuitive Machines’ Space Systems division;
• Vice President of Build and Flight Reliability of SpaceX, William Gerstenmaier;
• Arlena Moses, launch weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

NASA is hoping for a Valentine’s Day launch for the Intuitive Machine’s IM-1 mission, with liftoff scheduled for 12:57 a.m. EST (0557 GMT).

A short while before liftoff, at 12:15 a.m. EST (0515 GMT), NASA will start streaming the IM-1 launch live. The feed may be found on NASA TV, NASA+, and the organization’s other social media platforms.

The launch will be broadcast live on the SpaceX X account (previously Twitter), which is run by SpaceX themselves.

The launch livestream will also be hosted by Intuitive Machines on the IM-1 mission site.

Additionally, you will be able to watch the IM-1 launch live on Space.com via our YouTube channel, homepage, and the top of this page. The weather, the launch vehicle, and other factors will all affect the precise launch window for SpaceX’s IM-1.

NASA issued a warning in a statement, saying that “Coverage is subject to change based on real-time operational activities.” Through its Artemis NASA blog, the organization will offer updates on the mission.

In case you are unable to see SpaceX’s IM-1 launch live, NASA is providing a “Virtual Guest” option for you to follow the launch virtually. Through the agency’s Virtual Guest Program website, you can register to be a virtual guest for the launch, get mission updates and details, and more. At the mission site, registration for the IM-1 mission is under underway.