NASA launches satellite to detect water on the moon

A dishwasher-sized NASA satellite was launched into space from Florida to identify where water - a precious resource for lunar missions - resides on the moon's surface in places such as the permanently shadowed craters at its poles.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral carrying NASA's Lunar Trailblazer orbiter. The Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft was built by Lockheed Martin's space division.

The satellite was a secondary payload onboard the rocket, with the primary payload being a lunar lander mission led by Intuitive Machines.

The lunar surface is often thought of as arid but previous measurements have found the presence of some water, even in warmer sun-lit locations.

In cold and permanently shadowed places at the lunar poles, it has long been hypothesised that there could be significant amounts of water ice.

Lunar Trailblazer, which weighs about 200kg and measures about 3.5m wide when its solar panels are fully deployed, is being sent to find and map this water on the moon's surface.

For future moon exploration, including potential long-term lunar bases staffed by astronauts, lunar water would be of vital importance because it could be processed not only as a drinking supply, but also into breathable oxygen and hydrogen fuel for rockets.