According to Reuters, engineers on Earth expect to lose radio communications with Odyssey, the first privately owned U.S. lunar probe, on Tuesday, effectively halting the mission five days after landing, Intuitive Machines LUNR reports.

Intuitive Machines Nova C lunar module – illustrationPhoto: NASA

The startup Intuitive Machines received a contract from NASA to carry six scientific instruments on board the shuttle, which will help study the surface of the moon and measure radio waves. The Houston company hopes to send another spacecraft in March that will drill to find underground ice.

NASA said the instruments were designed to run for seven days on solar power before the sun sets over the landing site.

Company executives said Friday, a day after Odysseus landed, that its instruments would be able to operate for about nine to 10 days “at best.”

However, the company acknowledged at the time that the spacecraft caught one of its legs on the uneven surface of the moon during its final descent and overturned.

As a result, the spacecraft’s solar panels were severely limited and the spacecraft’s two antennas remained pointed toward Earth, preventing communication with the lander, the company said Friday.

At the time, Intuitive Machines executives said their engineering teams would need more time to assess how this would affect the overall mission.

In a mission status update posted online Monday, the Houston-based company said: “Flight controllers plan to collect data until the lander’s solar cells are no longer exposed to light. “Based on the positioning of the Earth and the Moon, we believe that flight controllers will continue to communicate with Odysseus until Tuesday morning.”

Shares of Intuitive Machines fell 35% on Monday after plunging 30% on Friday following the announcement of the failed spacecraft landing.

The American company Intuitive Machines made history by becoming the first private company to successfully send a space probe to the moon. The successful landing on the night of Thursday to Friday (Romanian time) was the first for the US since the last flight of Apollo 17 in 51 years.