"Private Spacecraft Heads for Lunar South Pole in Historic Moon Mission"

SpaceX successfully launched a commercial spacecraft to the moon, marking the first U.S. soft landing on the lunar surface since the Apollo missions. The mission, carried out under a contract with NASA, aims to demonstrate technologies for future spacecraft landings and investigate the moon's south polar region for potential water ice. This endeavor reflects NASA's increasing reliance on the private sector for space exploration, with the agency hoping for at least two robotic missions to the moon annually through its Commercial Lunar Payload Services Program.