First private US space mission blasts off for the Moon

The United States took a major step towards returning to the Moon on Thursday when the first private lunar lander took off from Florida. SpaceX, the American company founded by Elon Musk, successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket carrying the lander, nicknamed Odysseus, from Cape Canaveral. If all goes to plan, the spacecraft will land on the Moon next week, the first time the US has made a soft landing on the lunar surface since the final Apollo mission in 1972. Odysseus, which is a Nova-C spacecraft designed by Texas-based Intuitive Machines, successfully separated from the Falcon 9 rocket that carried it into near-Earth orbit shortly after take-off. It is now on course for the Moon. #space #unitedstates #rocket Subscribe to The Telegraph with our special offer: just £1 for 3 months. Start your free trial now: