Puli Lunar Water Snooper (PLWS) on IM-2
Miniature neutron spectrometer (10 x 10 x 3.4 cm, about 400 g) built by Hungary's Puli Space Technologies to measure albedo neutrons as an indicator of subsurface hydrogen and water ice. It flew on Intuitive Machines' IM-2 mission, launched on 26 February 2025, mounted on IM's Micro Nova hopper; Puli had said it would also collect data from a permanently shadowed crater. IM-2's Athena lander touched down on 6 March 2025 about 400 m from its target and came to rest on its side, the mission ended the next day, and NASA said the hopper completed only some objectives. Puli says PLWS returned data from the lunar surface (a press report of a Puli statement gives about 38 minutes of operation). ESA agreed in January 2025 to buy the data; no results had been published as of October 2026.
Objective. Measure albedo neutron count rates at the lunar south pole, including from a permanently shadowed crater reached by the Micro Nova hopper, to detect subsurface hydrogen as an indicator of water ice.
This is one instrument. Its evidence and outcome are its own and are not the carrier mission's result.
Facts
- Kind
- Instrument
- Carried by
- Intuitive Machines IM-2 (Athena lander)
- Mission type
- Prospecting
- Target
- MoonLunar south pole region: IM-2 was planned to land at Mons Mouton and touched down about 400 m from its intended site; PLWS was mounted on IM's Micro Nova hopperOn the Moon map: Mons Mouton
- Launch
- 2025-02-26
- Landing
- 2025-03-06
- Launch vehicle
- SpaceX Falcon 9
- Phase
- EndedEnded with the IM-2 mission: Intuitive Machines' 2025-03-07 release says the mission concluded with Athena on its side. The outcome is recorded as unknown: Puli says PLWS returned data from the surface (2026-07-22 release), but NASA release 25-025 says the hopper completed only some objectives, and no PLWS results have been published, so the planned permanently-shadowed-crater measurement is not shown to have happened.
- Outcome
- UnknownBasis: inferred by this dataset
- Why it is included
- Stated resource objective
What comes next
This mission has ended.
Participants
Operators, payload owners, carriers and customers are recorded separately.
| Organization | Role |
|---|---|
| Puli Space Technologies | Payload owner |
| Puli Space Technologies | Payload builder |
| Intuitive Machines | Carrier |
| European Space Agency | Customer |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | Funder |
Resources and evidence
| Resource | Evidence |
|---|---|
| Water ice | Targeted |
Open evidence gaps
- No published PLWS measurement results, and no public release of the ESA-purchased data, were found.
- ESA's own PLWS pages (esa.int multimedia) returned HTTP 403 to WebFetch; ESA-side wording of the data-buy agreement and its value were not checked.
- The 38-minute operating time comes from a press report of a Puli statement (Daily News Hungary, 2025-03-11); Puli's original statement was not located on its website.
- Whether PLWS operated while the hopper was still attached to the toppled lander, and whether both PLWS units that Puli's site mentions operated, is not stated.
- NASA development funding of USD 225,000 (2021) is company-stated; no NASA award record was found.
Sources
18 excerpts from 7 publicationsOne web address counts as one publication.
measure albedo neutron count rates, indicating presence of water ice in the South Pole region of the Moon
Flying on Intuitive Machines' IM-2 lunar mission launched in February 2025, two of our NASA-awarded miniature neutron
PLWS is capable of monitoring and characterizing neutron environment, identifying and measuring subsurface hydrogen content
PLWS will collect first direct surface data ever from a permanently shadowed crater as well.
NASA has funded the payload development with $225,000 USD in 2021.
Mounted on Intuitive Machines' rocket-fueled drone called the Micro Nova Hopper
has made history by entering its first-ever exploration Data Buy agreement
ESA will work closely with Puli Space to analyze and standardize the measurement data, which will become public later.
only 10x10x3.4 cm and weighing barely 400 grams
Intuitive Machines' IM-2 mission launched at 6:16 p.m., Feb. 26, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Planned to land at Mons Mouton, IM-2 touched down at approximately 11:30 a.m. March 6, more than 1,300 feet (400 meters) from its intended landing site.
Although Intuitive Machines' Nova-C Hopper and Nokia's 4G/LTE Tipping Point technologies, funded in part by NASA, were only able to complete some objectives
Images downlinked from Athena on the lunar surface confirmed that Athena was on her side.
The mission has concluded and teams are continuing to assess the data collected throughout the mission.
On Intuitive Machines' IM-2 mission to the lunar South Pole region in March 2025, PLWS became the first Hungarian instrument to land on the Moon and return data from the lunar surface.
and flown to the lunar south pole under an ESA contract — has already returned data from the lunar surface.
Puli Lunar Water Snooper by Puli Space Technologies Team
PLWS was operational for 38 minutes in temperatures around -55 degrees Celsius, Puli Space Technologies said.
Cite this record
SpaceMiningData, “Puli Lunar Water Snooper (PLWS) on IM-2”, dataset version a00fa2c68a45, built 2026-11-11, https://spaceminingdata.com/missions/puli-lunar-water-snooper-im2.html. Record checked 2026-10-28.