The company reached the lunar surface in 2024, and now its second lander aims to improve on the feat. Three other spacecraft also hitched a ride on the SpaceX rocket.

Key Takeaways Shares of Intuitive Machines rose Thursday after the company's lunar lander took off on a SpaceX rocket Wednesday night.The Athena lander will touch down on the moon in the coming days as the second mission in NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.

Intuitive Machines' lunar lander Athena is headed to the moon as part of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch for NASA's Artemis program. Leroy Chiao, a former astronaut, joins CBS News with more details.