SpaceX set to launch two spacecraft to the Moon tonight - Ars Technica

Across these four launches—two on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, one on Rocket Lab's Electron, and one on NASA's Space Launch System—there have been a total of 15 spacecraft sent to fly by the Moon, enter orbit, or land there.

Consider that, from 1973 to 2022, NASA and the United States sent a total of 15 spacecraft to the Moon over a period of five decades.

Now, thanks to a mix of commercial, academic, and government payloads, US rockets will launch 15 spacecraft to the Moon in about five months.

NASA is also sending a spacecraft to the Moon on this Falcon 9 launch as a secondary passenger.

As busy as this period has been for the Moon, there is much more to come.

During the first half of 2023, two commercial US companies—Intuitive Machines and Astrobotic—are expected to attempt landings on the Moon for NASA.

India, Japan, and possibly even Russia also plan to launch missions to the Moon in 2023.

Later this decade, of course, NASA is building its entire Artemis Program around lunar exploration, including human missions and the possibility of a settlement late this decade.