The Mapp rover was carried by the Athena lander, which represents a significant recovery for Intuitive Machines following a previous failed mission with its Odysseus spacecraft.

The successful landing of Athena underscores the evolving landscape of lunar exploration and the challenges faced by NASA and its commercial partners.

On March 6, 2025, the Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (Mapp) successfully landed on the moon, becoming the first private U.S. robotic lunar rover to achieve this milestone.

The rover carries Nokia antennas to test a 4G communications system for the moon, along with additional payloads from global partners, including a prototype micro-swarm robot from MIT.

Lunar Outpost's CEO, Justin Cyrus, emphasized that Lunar Voyage 1 aims to demonstrate the potential for private industry to create economic value and infrastructure on the moon.

The landing of Mapp follows another private moon landing by Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost just four days earlier, marking a notable period for commercial lunar exploration.

Developed by Colorado-based start-up Lunar Outpost, Mapp touched down near the moon's south pole at 12:31 PM ET after an eight-day journey from Earth.

If confirmed intact, Mapp will conduct a 14-day exploration of the lunar surface, focusing on areas near Mons Mouton, ahead of NASA's Artemis 3 mission scheduled for mid-2027.

This mission not only features the first cellphone call from the moon but also includes a symbolic sale of lunar regolith to NASA for $1, setting a legal precedent for future space commerce.

Mapp is solar-powered and designed for a mission duration of one lunar day, equivalent to about 14 Earth days, and will not operate after the lunar night due to extreme temperatures.

Mapp measures 17.7 by 15 by 15.7 inches and is designed to gather data about the lunar environment to assist future lunar exploration and NASA's Artemis missions.

The Mapp rover launched on February 26, 2025, from Florida's Space Coast on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, successfully entering lunar orbit before landing.