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(SSLC, Torrance, Calif., U.S.) Type 5 composite propulsion tanks, feeding ’s (IM, Houston, Texas, U.S.) Nova-C lunar lander — are on their way to the Moon. Launch of the IM-2 mission took place at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Feb. 26, 2025 at 4:15 p.m. PST. Expected touchdown on the lunar surface is March 6, 2025.

IM-2 represents a milestone in commercial lunar exploration, aiming to deliver advanced scientific instruments and technology demonstrations to the moon’s surface. The mission uses IM’s Nova-C class lander, which was launched aboard a SpaceX  (Hawthorne, Calif., U.S.) Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The lander is destined for Mons Mouton, a plateau near the Moon’s South Pole, and will carry a suite of payloads, including NASA science experiments and commercial technology demonstrations.

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A key component of this mission is the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1), a NASA initiative designed to search for water ice on the Moon. PRIME-1 will employ the regolith and ice drill for exploring new terrain (TRIDENT) to extract lunar soil, which will then be analyzed by the mass spectrometer observing lunar operations (MSOLO) to detect volatile substances. This experiment marks NASA’s first attempt to harvest resources from beneath the lunar surface, a critical step toward sustainable human exploration of the Moon and beyond.

SSLC has played a pivotal role in the development of the Nova-C lander, providing advanced composite pressure vessels essential for its cryogenic propulsion system (read “Type V pressure vessel enables lunar lander”). The Type 5 all-composite unibody Pressurmaxx liquid methane and liquid oxygen tanks are designed to withstand the rigors of space travel, ensuring the safe delivery of payloads to the lunar surface.

Pressurmaxx tanks were first used for IM’s IM-1 mission in February 2024, which successfully landed the Nova-C lander, Odysseus, near Malapert A in the Moon’s South Pole region. Since then, SSLC has made updates to the tank body’s integrated features that the company says “will put vehicle design solutions for spaceflight into the trade space for the first time.”

“Lighter and stronger are incremental improvements, but they are not game-changers,” says SSLC CEO Markus Rufer. “Converting secondary structure (a.k.a. parasitic mass) into primary load-bearing structure is transformational technology that will change how such vehicles are designed and what capabilities they can achieve.”

Such features are tank wall integrated and mechanically fused, so they don’t rely on adhesive properties of a bonding agent. These options include longitudinal stringers, circumferential stiffeners, engine mounts, attachments, propellant management systems (slosh baffles, anti-vortex devices, positive expulsion systems) and carbon fiber fluid lines.     

Pressurmaxx pressure vessels are qualified for temperatures ranging from -321°F to 160°F. Chemical compatibilities include petroleum-based fuels (kerosene and alcohol-based fuels) as well as cryogens (such as liquid oxygen, liquid nitrogen, liquid methane), various gases (methane, helium, oxygen, nitrogen) and propellants (turpentine, hydrazine and HAN AF-M-315E green propellant). 

Besides validated performance in space, SSLC says these features have already enabled applications in medical, energy, maritime, liquified natural gas transportation, superconducting transformer technology, aviation and are currently in test for liquid hydrogen applications.                                          

The upcoming IM-2 mission signifies a continued commitment to advancing lunar exploration and developing the infrastructure necessary for a sustained human presence on the Moon.