We Have Liftoff! EagleCam Successfully Launches Into Space, Bound for the Moon

The Intuitive Machines (IM)-1 mission launched at 1:05 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, with hardware built entirely by Embry-Riddle students onboard.
The Intuitive Machines (IM)-1 mission launched at 1:05 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, with hardware built entirely by Embry-Riddle students onboard. (Photo: SpaceX)

Mike Cavaliere photoMike Cavaliere /

Feb 15, 2024, 2:11 PM

Years in the making, Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University’s miniature satellite camera system, called “EagleCam,” successfully left Earth in the early hours of Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

It is now on its way to the moon.

On its arrival, the device is poised to accomplish a series of firsts — including becoming the first-ever university student-built project to land on the moon, the first to capture third-person imagery of a spacecraft and the first to use WiFi on the lunar surface.

Watch a recording of the launch.

Watch the lunar lander deploy into space, beginning its multi-day journey to the moon.

More information about the lander’s journey to the moon will be reported by Intuitive Machines, online.

The moon landing is currently scheduled for Feb. 22, 2024.

Stay tuned for more updates as the landing approaches.

Posted In: Engineering | Institutional News | Space