*

Athena lander aims for lunar south pole landing

*

Previous attempt by Intuitive Machines ( LUNR ) failed

*

NASA supports private lunar spacecraft development

(Adds context on company, share price, latest company comment

paragraphs 2-7)

By Joey Roulette

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - Intuitive Machines ( LUNR )

said on Thursday that its robotic Athena lander has

landed on the moon's surface but details of the spacecraft's

status and health remained unclear, a tense moment in the

company's second such attempt.

The six-legged Athena, carrying 11 payloads and scientific

instruments, targeted its landing site some 100 miles (160 km)

from the lunar south pole for a touchdown timed for 12:32 p.m.

ET (1732 GMT).

But by that time, the lander's engine was still running,

telemetry showed, as it appeared to hover over the moon. Minutes

later, after commanding the lander's engine to shut down, the

company confirmed Athena "is on the surface of the moon," but

its exact orientation was unclear.

Intuitive Machines ( LUNR ) ended its mission live stream and said a

press conference is scheduled for 4pm ET.

Intuitive Machines' ( LUNR ) shares fell more than 20% in

afternoon trading. The stock has more than doubled in the past

year.

The space startup is one of many companies primed by

NASA to return the United States to the moon. The focus on

private companies is seen as lower cost but higher risk.

After launching atop a SpaceX rocket on February 26 from

Florida, Athena has flown a winding path to the moon some

238,000 miles (383,000 km) away from Earth.

The Houston-based company's first moon landing attempt

almost exactly a year ago, using its Odysseus lander, marked the

most successful touchdown attempt at the time by a private

company.

But its hard touchdown - due to a faulty laser altimeter

used to judge its distance from the ground - broke a lander leg

and caused the craft to topple over, dooming many of its onboard

experiments.

Five nations have made successful soft landings in the past

- the then-Soviet Union, the U.S., China, India and, last year,

Japan. The U.S. and China are both rushing to put their

astronauts on the moon later this decade, each courting allies

and giving their private sectors a key role in spacecraft

development.

India's first uncrewed moon landing, Chandrayaan-3 in 2023,

touched down near the lunar south pole. The region is eyed by

major space powers for its potential for resource extraction

once humans return to the surface - subsurface water ice could

theoretically be converted into rocket fuel.

Austin-based Firefly Aerospace this month celebrated a clean

touchdown of its Blue Ghost lander, marking the most successful

soft landing by a private company to date.

Intuitive Machines ( LUNR ), Firefly, Astrobotic Technology and a

handful of other companies are building lunar spacecraft under

NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, an effort to

seed development of low-budget spacecraft that can scour the

moon's surface before the U.S. sends astronauts there around

2027.