SpaceX launches rocket heading for first US moon landing in 52 years

A lunar lander launched by SpaceX is attempting to make the first United States landing on the moon since the last Apollo mission in 1972.

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off in the early hours of Thursday, 15 February, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The SpaceX rocket is carrying a moon lander made by Intuitive Machines towards its destination roughly 230,000 miles away.

The ‘Odysseus’ lunar landing launched successfully, and if all goes well, it is expected to touch down on 22 February after a day in lunar orbit.