A spacecraft built and flown by Texas-based company Intuitive Machines landed near the moon's south pole on Thursday, the first U.S. touchdown on the lunar surface in more than half a century and the first ever achieved by the private sector.

NASA, with several research instruments aboard the vehicle, hailed the landing as a major achievement in its goal of sending a squad of commercially flown spacecraft on scientific scouting missions to the moon ahead of a planned return of astronauts there later this decade.

A private robotic rover touched down on the moon Thursday, becoming the first US spacecraft in more than 50 years to land on the lunar surface. 

The landing of the vehicle, built by Intuitive Machines, also marked the first time in history a private company successfully pulled off the incredible feat. 

The craft – dubbed Odysseus – landed some 250,000 miles away near the south pole of the moon around 6:23 p.m. ET — although communication between the rover and crews on the ground were weak, officials said.

Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 lander, also called Odysseus or “Odie,” is on the lunar surface after experiencing unexpected issues hours prior to landing.

“I know this was a nail-biter, but we are on the surface, and we are transmitting,” Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus announced on a live webcast. “Welcome to the moon.”

A new rocket developed by the United Launch Alliance deployed the first lunar lander from the U.S. in decades, on Monday, but the spacecraft suffered a "critical" fuel loss hours into its flight.

Why it matters: The rocket was carrying Astrobotic Technology's Peregrine lander, which is set to be the first commercial lander to touch down on the moon — and may install a cemetery on the lunar surface.

If Peregrine successfully lands next month, it would also be the first American lander on the moon since the end of the Apollo program in 1972.

The US Space Force launched a secretive plane on Thursday which has been equipped with heavier boosters that could feasibly send it further into orbit than ever before.

The launch marks the 9th flight of the three-core SpaceX Falcon Heavy booster, and the 7th flight of the US Air Force's (not so) secret unmanned spaceplane, the X-37B (USSF-52).

The launch was previously scheduled for Dec. 10, however it was scrapped due to issues with ground equipment just 30 minutes before liftoff - pushing the event back 18 days.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has made a groundbreaking discovery on Jupiter’s moon Europa, unveiling the presence of a significant carbon source on its icy surface.

According to NASA, the discovery of carbon dioxide holds significant implications for the search for life beyond Earth and our understanding of Europa’s complex geology.

The United States Space Force has had internal discussions about setting up a hotline with China to prevent crises in space, U.S. commander General Chance Saltzman told Reuters on Monday.

The chief of space operations said a direct line of communication between the Space Force and its Chinese counterpart would be valuable in de-escalating tensions but that the U.S. had not yet engaged with China to establish one.

An international crew of four astronauts returned to Earth early Monday after spending six months in orbit aboard the International Space Station.

The SpaceX Dragon Endeavour capsule streaked through the sky over Cape Canaveral toward a splashdown into the Atlantic Ocean near Jacksonville.

"Splashdown of Dragon confirmed – welcome back to Earth, Steve, @Astro_Woody, Andrey, and @Astro_Alneyadi!" SpaceX posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Former Navy fighter pilot Ryan Graves has spent years pushing for a proper, centralized system enabling military and commercial pilots to report sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena. It may finally be coming.

The Pentagon announced Thursday the launch of a website that will publish unclassified material from the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, the agency within the Department of Defense that’s responsible for investigating reports of unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs, commonly known as UFOs.