One familiar step for mankind; one giant leap for private business in space.

The Odysseus lunar lander, built by the Houston-based Intuitive Machines, safely landed on the Moon on Thursday, becoming the first private company to reach the lunar surface and the first US-made spacecraft to complete the feat in a half century.

In a private-public partnership with NASA, Odysseus made the historic touchdown about 6:24 p.m. ET Thursday, although it took a few frightening minutes at mission control as there were communications issues.

However, the spacecraft confirmed its successful landing minutes later as the Houston mission control room erupted in applause.

Mission control confirmed "Our equipment is on the Moon." But IM engineers were working to see if "Odie" had tipped on its side.

"I know this was a nail-biter, but we are on the surface, and we are transmitting," Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus declared on the webcast. "Welcome to the Moon."

Check back for more details on this developing story.

NASA