The IM-2 mission lunar lander has been delivered to Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The Athena lander is currently set to launch on February 26, and will carry what could be the first data center on the Moon.

Among the payloads on IM-2 is a small data center from Lonestar Data Holdings, which features an 8TB SSD and a single Microchip PolaFire SoC FPGA.

Lonestar plans to use the system to see how storage behaves on the Moon's surface, with an eventual aim to use the satellite as a disaster-recovery site.

The launch follows a software-only test on the IM-1 lander. That mission, last February, was the first commercial spacecraft ever to land on the lunar surface - but the lander had inadvertently tipped over, hampering its communication abilities and leaving its solar panels closer to the ground than expected.

That issue, as well as other challenges, helped delay IM-2 to the hoped February 26 four-day window.

“Each lunar mission builds on the last, and Athena’s arrival in Florida demonstrates our dedication to delivering on the company’s vision to providing a reliable cadence of lunar delivery services,” said Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus.

“This commitment to flying missions reinforces our broader efforts of developing a heavy cargo lander, establishing a lunar data relay satellite constellation, and providing sustainable infrastructure services at the Moon to enable further exploration of the solar system.”

Lonestar's mission will be supported by terrestrial data center company Flexential, which will offer colocation, interconnection, and professional services to support Lonestar’s mission control platform, providing additional backup and disaster recovery services through its Tampa data center.

“Flexential’s partnership with Lonestar represents our commitment to advancing data center capabilities beyond conventional boundaries,” said Jason Carolan, chief innovation officer at Flexential.

“By supporting Lonestar’s space-based data center initiative, we are helping to create new possibilities for data storage and disaster recovery. This project demonstrates how innovative data center expertise can help organizations prepare for a resilient future with off-world storage solutions.”